Strong words in @insidehighered about @UGent's letter suspending @nathancofnas: "Ghent argues that Cofnas’s criticism of Arday as “mentally disabled” and a "worthless scholar" was “an intentional and serious disturbance of the peace” that may violate “the Belgian Criminal #HigherEd #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #BE
"Ghent (@Ugent) argues that Cofnas’s criticism of Arday as “mentally disabled” and a "worthless scholar" was “an intentional and serious disturbance of the peace” that may violate “the Belgian Criminal Code.” It is ludicrous (and dangerous) to suggest that accurately accusing a #Ghent #Cofnas #AcademicIntegrity #BE
I promised to give Ghent University the “benefit of the doubt” before writing a full piece about the Cofnas affair, by waiting for the temporary suspension to expire and hoping they’d come to their senses. Reliable sources now tell me that @UGent has extended @nathancofnas’s #CofnasAffair #UGent #HigherEducation #BE
Petra de Sutter, the rector of Ghent University who fires Cofnas, the whistleblower in the James Arday case #PetraDeSutter #GhentUniversity #Whistleblower #BE
Here is the full letter from Ghent University suspending @nathancofnas. As you can see, it’s one long heckler’s veto: the decision is not so much about Cofnas’ actual violations as about the flood of complaints and protests the rector has received, the reputational damage to the https://t.co/M6MGMfzJ3M #FreeSpeech #AcademicFreedom #Censorship #BE
“Acabei de ser suspenso pela Universidade de Ghent. É quase certo que me vão despedir. A decisão foi tomada pela reitora Petra De Sutter, uma antiga líder do Partido Verde”
Nathan Cofnas, the academic who accused Jason Arday of plagiarism, has been suspended by the University of Ghent while a disciplinary investigation is ongoing, but he claims not to regret his accusations, which triggered a controversy that culminated in the death of Arday, the youngest Black professor in the history of Cambridge. (translated)
The Spanish government wants to move five hundred underage girls from Ceuta to the mainland as part of a plan to address the reception crisis, but faces strong opposition from the conservative Partido Popular, which views the proposed action as illegal deportation. (translated)
The rector of Ghent University has now suspended @nathancofnas with immediate effect, caving to internal pressure—and doing so without even consulting him. From the suspension letter: “The manner in which you publicly presented your role in the allegations concerning the late https://t.co/IiVcZfeMZ2 #GhentUniversity #AcademicFreedom #Censorship #BE
The rector of Ghent University, who will now investigate Cofnas, who blew the whistle on Arday's plagiarism in the doctoral thesis. (translated)
Excellent work by @UGent. Now that a serious case of academic fraud has finally been exposed, it’s only fair to open an investigation into the only academic who had the audacity to blow the whistle, despite all the legal threats. “Ghent University has decided to take appropriate https://t.co/c0sQNNo9p2 #AcademicIntegrity #Whistleblower #GhentUniversity #BE
Perhaps climate anxiety and energy dehrowth are not the main drivers of A/C resistance among the European population at large, but they very much are at the level of government regulation and elite discourse. Governments keep discouraging it — including my own city of Ghent, https://t.co/g9bF6ctw4v #ClimateAnxiety #EnergyDegrowth #ACResistance #BE #EU
As I predicted last year: the anti-Israel boycott is causing irreparable damage to the international reputation of Ghent University (@UGent). Rector Petra De Sutter: “We have already lost many partnerships.” Fewer research projects, less research funding, fewer doctorates. For https://t.co/4BZZjmTqkh #GhentUniversity #BoycottIsrael #AcademicFreedom #IL #BE
