The U.S. government is pursuing leverage against a university in Belgium after that institution suspended the American academic responsible for exposing deceased Cambridge scholar Jason Arday.U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White announced Friday that the United States would be “reviewing any relationships we have with Ghent University” over the suspension of Nathan Cofnas, an American researcher at the center of an international firestorm around Arday.“Dishonest, corrupt institutions that engage in, or reward, scapegoating mob behavior are not desirable partners for us. This is particularly true where the purpose and effect of the scapegoating is to punish accurate journalism unearthing academic dishonesty,” White said via social media, though the ambassador did not mention any specific programs or relationships between the U.S. government and Ghent. “The ultimate purpose of freedom of speech is to overturn lies, fraud, and false ideologies. This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and precisely the reason his home institution wants to silence him.”
White’s message was a response to a statement Wednesday from Ghent University rector Petra De Sutter and vice-rector Herwig Reynaert in which they condemned “recent public statements” made by an unnamed “postdoctoral researcher” at their school. Dismissing concerns about “academic freedom,” the university announced that it would be launching a “preliminary disciplinary investigation” into the researcher as a “precautionary measure.”“We attach great importance to academic freedom and to open academic debate, even when views are controversial,” the rectors said. “However, that freedom is not unlimited.”Cofnas identified himself as the subject of the investigation on Thursday, suggesting “they will almost certainly fire me.”Nathan Cofnas, a 2nd-year PhD philosophy student of Lingnan University. (Photo via Newscom)
