The American ambassador to Belgium has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the retaliation of Ghent University against "American scholar" professor Nathan Cofnas, who has been suspended by the university over the death of former Cambridge University professor Jason Arday. Cofnas published a blog post leveling allegations of plagiarism against Arday. When a previous journalist investigated Arday for plagiarism, Arday contacted the police and the journalist was questioned, eventually dropping the story.
"The United States Mission to Belgium condemns, in the strongest terms, Ghent University’s retaliation against an American scholar following his accurate whistleblower reporting on academic fraud," Ambassador to Belgium Bill White said.
"The United States government regularly funds and supports research," he went on, "academic exchanges, and other engagements with overseas universities. 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. We are therefore reviewing any relationships we have with Ghent University."
Ghent University rector Petra De Sutter first announced an investigation into Cofnas, who was hired at the school in March, and then issued a suspension. De Sutter is a trans-identified male who served as the first trans deputy prime minister of Belgium, under the Green Party banner, in 2020. In the fall of 2025, De Sutter was forced to relinquish an honorary PhD after it was revealed that he used AI to create his acceptance speech for the award, including false, AI hallucinated quotes from luminaries like Albert Einstein.
"Bad-faith idealogues will try to make this a referendum on the content of Cofnas’s scholarship – or polemical distortions of it," said White. "That’s wrong. Free speech means that controversial views are protected. And Cofnas’s views were known to Ghent University when he was hired."
At the time of Cofnas hiring, there were protests and petitions by students who argued that the "race realist" should not be given a position at Ghent University. De Sutter, who did the hiring, defended the post.
"The ultimate purpose of freedom of speech is to overturn lies, fraud, and false ideologies," White said in conclusion. "This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and precisely the reason his home institution wants to silence him."
Tech CEO Elon Musk replied with an American flag emoji. De Sutter had previously been exposed as being in favor of the mass manufacture of human beings ala Alduous Huxley's Brave New World. He is a former member of the EU Parliament.
The letter of suspension to Cofnas from De Sutter stated that Cofnas was to blame in part for Arday's death, in essence, that it was Cofnas holding Arday accountable where administrators, other academics, and publishers had failed to do so that was at fault. "Over the past months," it stated, "I have received several complaints, reports, and concerning signals from across the wider university community regarding your conduct and public actions. In particular, over the past week additional concerns have been raised in relation to various interviews published in which you participated and the statements you made during those interviews."
"The manner in which you publicly presented your role in the allegations concerning the late professor Jason Arday has reinforced concerns among the university’s community that your public interventions seem to develop into targeted campaigns of professional elimination," stated De Sutter.
"Furthermore, in several public interviews, you repeatedly referred to the late professor Jason Arday as being ‘mentally disabled’ and made various other disparaging remarks concerning him, including, among others, describing him as a ‘worthless scholar’," it went on. Arday himself had claimed to have been autistic, unable to read until he was 18, having experienced locked-in syndrome, and other ailments.
"By framing your interventions as a ‘crusade’ aimed at the systematic personal and professional destruction of colleagues, you have demonstrated that your actions extend beyond the permissible bounds of academic debate," said De Sutter.
Author Maarten Boudry ran the letter of suspension through an AI detector and found that it was at least in part AI generated.
"The United States Mission to Belgium condemns, in the strongest terms, Ghent University’s retaliation against an American scholar following his accurate whistleblower reporting on academic fraud," Ambassador to Belgium Bill White said.
"The United States government regularly funds and supports research," he went on, "academic exchanges, and other engagements with overseas universities. 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. We are therefore reviewing any relationships we have with Ghent University."
Ghent University rector Petra De Sutter first announced an investigation into Cofnas, who was hired at the school in March, and then issued a suspension. De Sutter is a trans-identified male who served as the first trans deputy prime minister of Belgium, under the Green Party banner, in 2020. In the fall of 2025, De Sutter was forced to relinquish an honorary PhD after it was revealed that he used AI to create his acceptance speech for the award, including false, AI hallucinated quotes from luminaries like Albert Einstein.
"Bad-faith idealogues will try to make this a referendum on the content of Cofnas’s scholarship – or polemical distortions of it," said White. "That’s wrong. Free speech means that controversial views are protected. And Cofnas’s views were known to Ghent University when he was hired."
At the time of Cofnas hiring, there were protests and petitions by students who argued that the "race realist" should not be given a position at Ghent University. De Sutter, who did the hiring, defended the post.
"The ultimate purpose of freedom of speech is to overturn lies, fraud, and false ideologies," White said in conclusion. "This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and precisely the reason his home institution wants to silence him."
Tech CEO Elon Musk replied with an American flag emoji. De Sutter had previously been exposed as being in favor of the mass manufacture of human beings ala Alduous Huxley's Brave New World. He is a former member of the EU Parliament.
The letter of suspension to Cofnas from De Sutter stated that Cofnas was to blame in part for Arday's death, in essence, that it was Cofnas holding Arday accountable where administrators, other academics, and publishers had failed to do so that was at fault. "Over the past months," it stated, "I have received several complaints, reports, and concerning signals from across the wider university community regarding your conduct and public actions. In particular, over the past week additional concerns have been raised in relation to various interviews published in which you participated and the statements you made during those interviews."
"The manner in which you publicly presented your role in the allegations concerning the late professor Jason Arday has reinforced concerns among the university’s community that your public interventions seem to develop into targeted campaigns of professional elimination," stated De Sutter.
"Furthermore, in several public interviews, you repeatedly referred to the late professor Jason Arday as being ‘mentally disabled’ and made various other disparaging remarks concerning him, including, among others, describing him as a ‘worthless scholar’," it went on. Arday himself had claimed to have been autistic, unable to read until he was 18, having experienced locked-in syndrome, and other ailments.
"By framing your interventions as a ‘crusade’ aimed at the systematic personal and professional destruction of colleagues, you have demonstrated that your actions extend beyond the permissible bounds of academic debate," said De Sutter.
Author Maarten Boudry ran the letter of suspension through an AI detector and found that it was at least in part AI generated.
