Oriel College Urged to Drop Student Event With Nathan Cofnas
Oriel College at the University of Oxford is being urged to cancel an event featuring Nathan Cofnas, the man who accused the late Jason Arday of plagiarism. The event was organised by student supporters of Reform UK.
Cofnas is expected to appear at "An evening with Nathan Cofnas: Is DEI undermining higher education?" in Oriel's Harris lecture theatre on 17 November. The host is the Oxon Universities' Reform Society (OURS), a student group set up this year to support Reform UK.
The letter
Oxford campaign groups, British academics, members of the public and alumni have signed an open letter. It urges Oriel to "withdraw its facilities from the event".
The signatories say the event "risks creating a hostile and exclusionary environment for students, particularly those of ethnic minorities". They add that it "risks undermining Oriel's role as a world-class educational institution" in 2026, the 700th anniversary of its royal charter. The letter also claims that Cofnas's blogging played a significant role in the coverage Arday faced.
Background
Arday, 41, was found dead in August after resigning from his professorship at the University of Cambridge. He had faced intense media scrutiny after Cofnas made unproven accusations of plagiarism and said there were "serious questions" about his biographical claims. Cofnas is a blogger and academic who has been accused of promoting pseudoscientific ideas of racial difference in his online writings.
Responding to news of the Oriel event, Andrews said in an online post that it was "despicable and disgusting".
Responses
Oriel said it was committed to upholding freedom of speech within the law and had a statutory duty to do so, including for views that many find deeply offensive. It said it was also committed to an environment free from discrimination and harassment. The college treats events booked by committee members of registered societies under its code of practice on freedom of speech. Permitting an event does not mean the college endorses its speakers, it said, and it takes security and the safety of its members seriously.
On X, OURS said Cofnas and the organisers had been subjected to "a disturbing torrent of online hostility". In a statement it said that, as a registered student society of the university, it believed colleges were under a legal obligation to host such events. It said the decision to invite Cofnas was made solely by its committee.
Cofnas was approached for comment.
Source: The Guardian