After Arday
Sir: Lara Brown scathingly condemns Cambridge University’s acceptance of Jason Arday’s credentials (‘The fabulist’, 8 August). That it did so comes as no surprise, given the modish progressivism that pervades academia. However, the sheer extent of its gullibility in taking Arday’s claims at face value is startling, and the reputational damage that will follow is hardly undeserved. Cambridge University is not a victim here. Our sympathy should be with the qualified black teachers and students for whom it is already hard enough to make headway. They will now have to contend with the inevitable shadow over their legitimacy cast by the Arday farce.
Gordon BonnymanFrant, East Sussex
Snob alert
Sir: I am writing to challenge what could be seen as a rather snobbish claim made by Lara Brown in your recent edition, suggesting that it would be ‘quite unusual for anyone with a doctorate from a post-1992 university to ascend to such lofty heights’ as attaining a Chair at Cambridge.
