Trinity Assistant Professor of Education, Dr David Limond, was one of 179 signatories of “A statement in support of Nathan Cofnas’s Right to Academic Freedom of Expression”. Other signatories included Australian philosopher Peter Singer, Canadian psychologist Steven Pinker, and American philosopher Jeff McMahan.
The statement refers to another statement by members of Ghent University, in Belgium, calling on the university to rescind Cofnas’s appointment as a postdoctoral researcher. It cites part of a statement that claims his views “violate the university’s code of ethics and are morally beneath contempt”.
Cofnas also recently gained international attention following a Substack post he made accusing Cambridge Professor Jason Arday of plagiarism. Arday is now dead.
Cofnas, who describes himself as a “race realist”, was removed from his role at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 2024, after staff and students grew concerned over his comments about race, meritocracy and representation. In his blog, he wrote that if it were not for diversity and inclusion mechanisms, “blacks would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment”.
Dr Limond, in a statement to the University Times made today, said, “I signed the open letter in accordance with what might be called the Voltaire principle.” “Even though it is now widely accepted that Voltaire did not, in fact, use the words attributed to him to the effect that he disagreed with a statement but defended the right to make that statement to the death, the principle is a good one. The proposal then being made was to remove somebody from the staff of the University of Ghent because some disagreed with what he said. I did not defend anything he said,* I simply defended his right to say controversial things and to have those things examined rationally, on their merits. This is in keeping with such classic statements on freedom of speech as those offered by Milton and Mill. Although the matter would take too long to go into in detail, those who ride the tiger of censorship and oppose free speech are often later bitten by it, when they lose their own. Subsequent events regarding the late Jason Arday lend a certain piquancy to the case but are irrelevant; the open letter was written – and signed by various people, including me – before Arday came to popular attention. (The Arday case is evolving and I have no comment to make about it.) I was defending the principle of free speech and I refer you to my right under section 14 of the Universities Act to do so.”
“*The wording of the document I signed is clear on this point: ‘While we are not endorsing any specific claims [emphasis mine]… we believe that academics must be able to put forward controversial or provocative claims without fear of losing their employment’.”
The signatories argue that disagreement with Cofnas should take place through criticism and open debate rather than through attempts to remove him from his post at the university.
“While we are not endorsing any specific claims Cofnas has made,” the statement says, “we believe that academics must be able to put forward controversial or provocative claims without fear of losing their employment.” Adding that other academics should be free to refute or criticise his claims.
The document cites the Rector of Ghent University, Petra De Stutter, who told De Morgen: “As a university, we have a responsibility to create space for debate, but also to ensure an environment where people feel heard and respected.” The signatories add that debate should be restricted as a final resort, necessary only when it prevents “a clear threat of lasting harm.”
As reported by the BBC, Ghent University suspended Cofnas last Thursday as a “precautionary measure” pending disciplinary investigations. “They will almost certainly fire me,” Cofnas wrote on X.
Cofnas has become a central figure in the controversy surrounding Cambridge Professor Jason Arday after publishing a Substack post claiming that sections of Arday’s doctoral thesis had been copied from earlier academic work. He wrote that, after examining the Thesis using plagiarism-detection software, he found passages that had been reproduced, some retaining copy-editing errors from the original material.
The allegations were not confirmed before Arday’s resignation. According to the BBC, The University of Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded Arday’s PhD in 2015, previously looked into plagiarism allegations concerning his thesis, but did not uphold them.
On August 5th, 2026, Arday resigned from his professorship at Cambridge, stating he had faced “an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack” and that “there comes a point when the personal cost becomes too great.”
Arday was found dead less than a week after his resignation. A cause of death has not been made public; however, the Metropolitan Police said they are treating the death as surprising but not suspicious.
Cambridge has said they will continue the investigation into Arday’s situation, though they say this will be a “thoughtful and thorough reflection” on the events. Jesus College, where Arday was a fellow, also began a parallel process.
At his appointment in 2023, Arday became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor. His appointment was celebrated and heavily publicised as an important step towards racial representation in British universities. At the time, just 1% of academic staff in the UK were black. Critics argued that seeking out diversity had affected academic standards.
