Several sources including Yahoo have run stories on Cambridge University's diversity icon Jason Arday - the youngest black professor ever appointed there. He is widely accused of plagiarism, very nearly academia's most mortal sin.
Many are defending him, alleging racism. Many others are sure he violated academic ethics in 'borrowing' without citation many whole exact sentences and more of others' work. He has also made claims about his endurance running which have subsequently been withdrawn or scrubbed.
I am reminded of what the second President Bush called "the soft bigotry of low expectations;" these seem to have been operational in Arday's career progress. I fear those vetting Arday for Cambridge were overly generous in order to make the university look diverse, and of course as a result it now looks lame.
I am also reminded of Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard, who had similar difficulties for similar reasons. An Inside Higher Education article lists several college presidents who've lost their jobs for plagiarism of one sort or another.
I hope as a COTTonLINE reader you've noticed I try hard to provide citations for my sources, and mostly succeed.
