WEBVTT - History-Making Black Cambridge Professor Found Dead After Accusations Of Plagiarism 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:06.560 Hey there, folks. It is Saturday, August fifteenth, and he 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.560 had one of the most prestigious positions at one of 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:16.200 the most prestigious universities in all the world. He resigned 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.680 from that position just ten days ago. This morning he's 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:22.560 dead and with that, Welcome to this episode of Amy 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:28.680 and TJ. A tragedy from start to finish in this story, Robes, 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.879 it is sad what has happened, but it's sad what 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.680 happened beforehand, and it's sad the conversation that is happening 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.159 around this. This has been a controversial story that's been 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:40.839 making headlines over the past couple of weeks. 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:43.680 You know what, It's ugly and tragic. I feel like 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.879 that might be the best way to describe it. And 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.440 there are lessons to be learned and changes that need 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:55.040 to be made on multiple fronts given this tragedy. But 0:00:55.280 --> 0:01:00.840 this was a story that had so many element of 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:07.560 the first and redemption and overcoming and inspiration, and everyone 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:13.479 wanted to get swept up in the beauty and inspiration 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.319 of this story. And then the dark turn it took 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.200 that ended with this young man that did have so 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:25.000 much promise. It ended in his tragic death and unnecessarily 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.000 so it it's a hell. 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:28.800 Of a story and it sounds like Roges. He was 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:34.759 pushed to this by an incredible public attack and scrutiny, 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:39.120 some which is certainly warranted and deserved and we should 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.120 be okay with. But this went to another level to 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:46.680 where now this professor Jason Arday, forty one years old 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:51.840 Cambridge professor who became the youngest black professor in the 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.080 history of that storied university at the age of thirty seven, 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.960 has now passed away. Just found out getting word of it, 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:03.760 Robes yesterday morning. His body was found at a home 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.960 in London. Now, based on the statement from his family 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.880 and everything that's coming out, I think we are okay 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.880 and it's fair to say, Robes, he took his own life. Yes, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.120 that's what his family certainly suggesting in their statement. 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:16.560 Yes. 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.919 And when you hear what led to this death, it 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:24.240 all the pieces of the puzzle fit at table store. Yeah, 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:28.079 he was found on responsive, Yes, and police officially said 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.680 his death was not suspicious. And then you put that 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.000 together with the family statement and yes, it's fair to 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:40.480 say that the pressure, the shame, the scrutiny just was 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:41.359 too much for him. 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.359 To bear, and this has been going on. Robes. He 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:48.560 resigned August fifth from Cambridge, but his name had been 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:52.200 in headline certainly weeks leading up to that, because in 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:58.480 Romes we know this is everything in academia, plagiarism, research, 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:03.840 research papers, plagiarism is everything. So he got all kinds 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.960 of heat. Folks were reviewing, doing official reviews of his 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:12.760 previous work. Plagiarism was found. They had instances in some cases, Robes, 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:14.400 they're not just talking about one or two. I was 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:16.760 talking about in some cases hundreds of incidents they found 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:20.160 that were similar, very similar to or identical to stuff 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.000 they found in other work. He of course pushed back 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.920 and said absolutely not. He got some support from some 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.400 universities at the time, but Robes, this thing got going. 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:32.640 And then what you had here in the US, what 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:34.880 has our debate been about? And they jumped on it. 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.040 D freakin' ideis said. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.520 He was underqualified and there were plenty of other candidates 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.280 who had much I guess much. 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:48.280 They were more. 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:52.360 Tenured, they had better resumes, they were more qualified. According 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.760 to many colleagues or people who were on that level, 0:03:55.800 --> 0:03:58.440 who say he just wasn't ready yet for this position. 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.040 And there was a rush to put in that position 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:06.400 because they wanted to diversify their teaching staff. How many 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.640 what was it's a very low percentage of black professors 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.480 at Cambridge. So the claim was that you laugh because 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:14.040 it's kind of. 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.120 Like a duh. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:19.960 But in an effort, according to the critics to Bolster 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.640 that they were so willing and so quick to just 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:28.200 to not scrutinize his credentials, to not scrutinize his work, 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.560 to not scrutinize this backstory that many people say now 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.920 he either embellished or completely lied about in terms of 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.240 just his overcoming and some of his athletic feats there 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:46.159 are just it looks as though he padded and distorted 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:50.719 and embellished his not only his resume, but his backstory 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:52.560 and then certainly his published work. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:54.760 And so yeah, you got a thirty seven year old 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.840 getting this gig over obviously a bunch of folks who 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.640 thought they were more qualified or have some issue with 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.800 him and see him as Look, he became a star, 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:06.200 certainly a star there in the UK, but he was 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.680 an international star. Robe this had not happened before this 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.240 as a young black man. And by the way, his 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:15.159 backstory included overcoming autism. His backstory included being nonverbal. He 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:17.640 said till he was eleven, couldn't read or write until 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:23.280 he was eighteen. His backstory was incredible of Ghanaian immigrant parents. 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.640 And so the university was peddling this story. They were 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.600 promoting him. He was doing the talk shows, he was 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:33.640 on television. Look at this man who has overcome so much. 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:36.839 He was giving hope to parents who have autistic children, 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.159 all sorts of things. That he got so much attention, 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.000 not only because of how young he was, but because of. 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:46.159 What it took to get him where he was. 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:47.840 Ro So, you just said he got so much attention, 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:50.599 and with that comes scrutiny, and there was a lot 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.440 of it. And the racial argument you might be able 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:58.279 to make, which is a legitimate one, Robes, is that 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.840 they really came after him him because he's black, to 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.200 really try to take this guy down, tear him down. 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.720 There's a level of scrutiny and criticism that he got. 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.440 Then his white counterparts would not. There have been plenty 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.000 of stories of plagiarism and folks doing this stuff and 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:18.640 in academia. Fine, but Robes, the problem here is that 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.880 if you had the scrutiny and the criticism that came 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.440 was not okay. But now it can be justified because 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.200 there are things that were found that were wrong. You 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.880 know what I'm saying. They like we can justify how 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.280 we treated him because it turns out parts of what 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:34.920 we were saying were right. That's the wrong conversation in 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.880 my in my opinion, Robes, we've been talking about this 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.080 recently and we need to make this a theme of 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:45.479 our world. Accountability does not have to come with cruelty. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.080 You can hold him accountable, you can ask these questions. 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.640 This dude was destroyed online. 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.560 And we see what the result was. 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.080 And this is important for anyone who thinks it's okay. 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.440 And I think that's such an important point to People 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:02.400 can be wrong, They can be found to. 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:05.839 Have lied, cheated, stolen whatever. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:10.680 It doesn't mean that in turn, in response, we can 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:16.400 sit from our couches or our non glass homes and 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:23.120 just hurl hate and spew awful words of just cruelty. 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:27.080 Because we say this all the time. Words are weapons. 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:33.640 Words matter. Words have horrific impact on folks. What you write, 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:36.880 what you comment. All of that people read, they hear, 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.640 they absorb and you see what happened here in this case. 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.720 And roabes this university. I had to go back and 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:46.760 do a little research here. But Cambridge, I mean, I 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.040 have the understanding Cambridge Oxford, right, I have a general 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.160 idea of how prestigious it is. But this is the 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.880 university of Stephen Hawking, of Sir Isaac Newton, kings and queens, 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.200 including the current King of England. This is all the 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.440 mater if you will, right mind, is University of Arkansas 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.440 you or it's of Georgia. He's got Cambridge's his alma mater. 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:09.520 That's the countless monarchs and royalty have come through this place. 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:14.120 I didn't realize this nugget Robes came. It was created 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.600 because of some beef that professors in Oxford got into. 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:20.800 Some of those professors said the hell with it, We're 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.880 gonna go over here and start our own university. So 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.600 what you have is Cambridge is just a spin off 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.880 of Oxford, is what? This is an incredible university. A 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:34.520 black kid with his background at that age getting that 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:40.480 spot was something worth celebrating. But Robes, it's not just him, 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:46.600 but the university is getting what. By all accounts, Robes 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:51.520 some pretty fair criticism for how they pushed him to 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.280 the front and didn't scrutinize what seemed to be some 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:56.960 obvious things that need to be screwed up. 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.520 Yes, and now, of course everyone is doing the Monday 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:03.280 morning co backing, but I do think that it absolutely 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:08.840 needs to be answered, and yes, Cambridge needs to acknowledge 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:13.080 what they did and their part in all of this, because, look, 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.479 we can get into some of these claims, but specifically 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:18.400 even the fact that he was nonverbal he claimed until 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:20.880 he was eleven and didn't wasn't able to write, I 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.400 believe until he was eighteen, writer read until he was eighteen. 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.920 A lot of folks who know autism, who actually are 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.679 affiliated with the university say that right there should have 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:34.920 raised a red flag because there is no documented situation 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:37.520 or incident or specific case. 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.880 Where that would even be possible or plausible. 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.560 They say he would be a medical miracle like this 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:47.840 doesn't happen. There is no medical literature that has anything 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:49.920 like this happened so real, that's not just a while 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.000 that's rare or never happened before. 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.600 So how do some of the smartest people in the world, 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.719 with all of the most incredible research and researchers of 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:04.319 the who already are well versed on this subject. How 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.520 did they not say, we might need. 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.160 To look into that because he did have some legit 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.360 parts of his background that were impressive, and they thought 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:16.720 they had a we got one. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:18.280 Oh, I wanted to believe that. 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.640 Yes, Robes to the point that they put some things 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.800 to the side. This isn't our criticism of them, This 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.800 is their own. This is every This is professors at 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.040 the university robes. Within months of him being selected, they 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:35.679 sent letters saying, hey, heads up, might want to take 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:38.959 a look at this. They've known about this, Ropes, it's there. 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:42.400 So it seems they they, like you said, they we 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:43.560 want to believe. 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:45.800 And they paraded him and I in that way, like 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.280 they said, see look at him, see look at us, 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:54.760 And they preferred the story and the image versus actually 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.400 looking into And that is a university. That is any 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.360 business's responsibility. When you're hiring someone, you gotta check the resume, 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:06.600 you gotta check the sources, you gotta check all of that. 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.800 That's part of the due diligence of hiring someone. And 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.240 then you put them up on this pedestal and you 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:16.600 parade them around to local media and to international media, 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.600 and you're patting yourself on the back and you're putting 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.520 him up as a shining example. Meantime, you haven't properly 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:23.360 vetted him. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:26.480 Pros they ok before you even get to the vetting, 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:28.400 they said he shouldn't have gotten the job because of 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.839 his resume. He just didn't have He didn't stack up 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.480 like a thirty seven year old from what I've seen 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:39.360 of his background. Okay, I agree with that, but I 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.800 also leave room for a diversity of experiences that make 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:45.560 him qualified. I'm okay with that, and I would love 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.920 for schools to do more of this consideration. I got 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:53.320 no problem with that part. But ropes, you go to 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.480 the next part of it. Okay, he's not qualified, but 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.080 I'm listening to you for saying you want to hire 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:01.959 him and look into this or this or this or this. 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:07.760 We run marathons. What's the first thing? Before I even 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.760 looked at a research paper if we were on this 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:14.440 hiring committee. He ran thirty marathons in thirty five days, 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:16.160 is his claim. 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.920 Okay, six hundred miles in six days. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.839 Like this is bro that was a that's a separate thing. 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:25.080 He's talking like two this would make him one of 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.760 the most elite runners the world has ever known. 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.679 And that is exactly how it was said. 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:34.439 And I look, I gotta believe that someone in Cambridge 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:35.400 is a marathon er. 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:37.679 I know there aren't many of us. What are one 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:39.200 percent of the world has run? 0:12:39.360 --> 0:12:41.120 They'll have they're doing research paper. 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:43.760 Some of the world has run one marathon. 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:48.559 Someone says they ran six hundred miles in six days. 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.199 That two might be a medical miracle in addition to 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.600 him overcoming autism and not being verbal for the first 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:56.600 eleven years of his life. 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:01.040 Oh yeah, that record. I'm trying to think a man 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.640 set that record. He only one man has ever done 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.040 that in the history of the world, only one woman 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.360 has and she only did it like in the past years. 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:13.560 Yes, yes, yes, it is an anomaly. It doesn't happen. 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:15.880 It's not something that you would ever see. And if 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.080 you did see it on a resume, you might want 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.520 to check that out like that absolutely was their job. 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.040 And so to your point, if he didn't have the 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.680 academic credentials that one would assume one would need to 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:33.880 become a professor at Cambridge, then yes, if he brings 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:40.200 an experience, a background and has value in these other 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:45.280 incredible feats to inspire and continue to teach students. You 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.640 might want to make sure those other things that you're 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:53.920 latting they are saying offset his academic experience. They sure 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:58.040 as hell better be true, and turns out they weren't. 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:02.680 And there were a number of things. Robes. The Times 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.400 of London did an analysis of a twenty fifteen thesis 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.240 of his said they found countless incidents of identical or 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.960 nearly identical lines from previous work from another Researcherguson. 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:15.640 As in it wasn't hard, it was almost it was 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.880 very easy for them to quickly realize what was going on. 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.280 Cambridge at first defended him and then they launched an 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.840 investigation Robe because they said they had new information and 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:27.840 that's what led ultimately, and I should mention this as well. 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.480 One of the research and maybe this was part of 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:32.280 the problem. One of the researchers who has been the loudest, 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:36.000 a former researcher at Cambridge robes he's the wrong message. 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.280 He's a racist, he's the wrong message. I don't want 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:40.760 to go that far nice stuff out because but he 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.080 has put out some views, Robes and some research that 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.480 can only be viewed as racist, essentially saying that black 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.400 people are intellectually inferior. 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.760 I would say that is absolutely. 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.640 That's racist. And when you push that, push him on 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.600 that point, he would come back and say he is 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.520 based on science and he is against wokeism, and so 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.160 he's that guy. So if he's been bringing up things 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.440 about this professor, he's not the right. Even if he's right, 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:09.000 he's the wrong messenger. 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.680 Because he was very easy at that point to have 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.520 this man his name is Nathan Kaffness, when he's the 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:19.360 one shouting from the rooftops that doctor r Day is 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:23.440 not qualified for this job and he is railing against DEI. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:26.320 At the same time, it was easy for Cambridge to say, 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:29.200 these are smear campaigns, this is a this is an 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.640 attack based on, you know, his racist beliefs, and so 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.600 it was easy to diminish what he was saying and 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:39.160 put him in a different category and basically kind of 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.160 negate anything he was saying because he was biased. 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:44.640 Yeah, that was no ether. Some of his stuff is 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:45.240 pretty shocked. 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.720 Yeah, it's I looked a little bit into it. It 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:49.520 is actually appalling. 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:53.120 But again Redes no matter what mistakes and missteps that 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.840 were made by Cambridge. We want to assign responsibility. There's 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.240 a young man dead right now, and is that a 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.560 matter of I mean book, if he lied, if he cheated, 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.280 that is wrong and he should be held accountable. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:06.960 Absolutely. 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:09.880 I don't know how we go about doing those things 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:16.360 Robes without now this public assault that people are subjected 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.720 to online, and then you throw in some politics, throw 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:23.280 in race, and it apparently was too much. It's just 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:29.240 there is no way to defend Robes if he cheated 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:33.120 his way, there's no way to defend how we hold 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:38.040 him accountable for doing so, And there's no way Robes 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:43.480 to defend how Cambridge and the role they have played 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.640 in all this. So you start at the top, You're like, 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:49.600 there's so much blame and responsibility and stuff to go around. 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:51.320 We all failed here. 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:53.440 That is so true. 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:57.800 And look, yes, to your point, he should be held accountable. Yes, 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:01.800 and he was, and he resigned and he stepped down 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:06.120 in shame and humiliation and it just didn't stop. At 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.920 what point how much is someone supposed to pay for 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:13.280 the harm they caused? And yes, there should have maybe 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.000 been I don't know what else should have or could 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:19.119 have happened, or at least maybe lessons learned here, but 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.760 certainly I think we can all agree he didn't deserve 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:22.720 to pay with his life. 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:27.639 We will let you hear now really ominous words that 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.680 we got from him in his resignation letter. Will also 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.680 let you hear from his family. And yes, we are 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:35.160 hearing from Cambridge University. 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.720 Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. We are talking 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:52.680 about doctor Jason our Day, the youngest black professor. He 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.760 became a professor at the age of thirty seven at 0:17:55.880 --> 0:18:03.560 the esteemed Cambridge University. He is now dead after he 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:04.560 was exposed. 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:06.320 I guess so to speak, for. 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:13.520 Embellishing his past history but plagiarizing some of his work. 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.919 And so yes, he resigned from Cambridge ten days ago 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.840 and now unfortunately it appears he has taken. 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.600 His own life now the resignation letter. We'll let you 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.600 hear the family's statement as well. But this was his 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.840 resignation letter. He started saying it was profound sadness that 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.040 he was writing to resign. He said, though sadly the 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:36.160 years since my appointment have been marked by an unrelenting 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.159 level of public scrutiny and personal attack. While criticism is 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.520 an inevitable part of academic life. What I have experienced 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:47.639 has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement. The relentless accusation, speculation, 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:50.399 and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:54.480 and on those I love. I can't again, worldes how 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.359 much space, how much grace? How much dignity do we 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:01.360 give people that we feel have done something wrong? And 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.480 this is just I don't know. I see the evidence 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:06.840 out there against him. I have questions about marathons and 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:11.560 all this stuff. He has denied any wrongdoing rose, but 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.720 this stuff is how do we do this? People? Just 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.399 a public attack to the point that he killed himself. Okay, 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.640 let's just say what it is. And others could argue, well, 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:22.440 he did it because he knew he was a liar 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.639 and he was just trying to not take responsibility. Is 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:26.760 that true as well? 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.480 I don't say both my futrios. They both could be true. 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.399 He went on to write, I have tried to continue 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.600 because I believe deeply in the values of higher education, 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:39.640 in rigorous scholarship, and in the transformative power of universities. 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.840 I have tried because of my students, my colleagues, and 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:44.720 the countless people who have written to tell me that 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:47.960 my journey gave them hope. But there comes a point 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:51.880 when the personal cost becomes too great. I have a family. 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.800 I want to be present for them. I want to 0:19:55.840 --> 0:20:00.399 reclaim some peace, some privacy, and some semblance of an 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.520 ordinary life. I no longer wish to feel as though 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.120 I am living under a constant spotlight, where every aspect 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:10.720 of my life is subject to public examination and judgment. 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.240 It's sad because in this resignation level he talks of 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:19.760 a future, and to know what happened just a few 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.480 days later is just gutting. He went on to say, 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.760 for my own well being, for my family, and for 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.640 those who have stood by me throughout this difficult period, 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:30.720 I have concluded that the only way to bring this 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:34.280 chapter to an end is to step away. This decision 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.800 should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.120 scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge, 0:20:40.359 --> 0:20:43.280 nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:46.440 narratives that have surrounded me. It is simply the decision 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:49.720 of someone who has reached the limits of what any 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:53.479 person should reasonably be expected to endure. 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:59.120 Yeah, we uh eh, it sucks to read that now. 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:03.160 We yeah, you get there, and we have been there, 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:05.680 and we have been there to the point that the 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.120 thoughts crossed our minds about taking our own lives because 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:09.000 you wanted to stop. 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:10.240 You just one piece. 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:14.199 You just please leave me alone, make this stop. And 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:16.600 it's an onslaught and it's a narrative that you can't 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:18.800 get back. People are saying things about you that you 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:23.040 can't stop, you can't control. It's gone. Your reputation is gone. 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.919 When your reputation is gone, whether it's true or not, 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:29.439 whether some of it's true and some of it's false, 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:35.320 it is almost impossible to reclaim. It is overwhelming. And 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:37.240 when you're in the midst of it, when you've lost 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.160 it all, how do you get it back? 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:42.240 And he is saying in that letter of Robes, he's 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:46.639 laying out and yes, a lot of that completely made 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:49.280 sense to us from where he was, but Robes at 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:51.720 that point on August fifth, he goes from August fifth 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.280 to August fourteenth. August fourteenth is when he was found 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.639 dead again less than ten days later. His family did 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:01.119 put out a statement as well, saying saying that Jason 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:04.960 was subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse for more 0:22:05.000 --> 0:22:07.600 than three years since he accepted the role at Cambridge 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:10.800 by those who would leave no stone unturned in their 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:14.920 quest to undermine him. Called it a campaign of misinformation. 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.200 It was too much for Jason, who was a gentleman 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.280 who always wanted to see the best in everyone. We 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:22.879 are in shock at the loss of this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle, 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:25.560 and son said they're not going to be commenting any 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:29.080 further farther in robes. They said they want to stop 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:32.240 the campaign of harassment which has been waged against Jason 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:35.520 and his family for too long. I don't know, babe, 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:39.040