Ghent University Rector Petra De Sutter denies any interference in the disciplinary investigation into controversial US researcher Nathan Cofnas. Today 80 complaints have been lodged against Cofnas.
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Ghent uni chief Petra De Sutter denies any interference in disciplinary proceedings against Nathan Cofnas
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“I categorically deny that I called for a complaint to be lodged against Cofnas and that I make ideological decisions,” emphasises Ghent University Rector Petra De Sutter. She is responding to international criticism that the disciplinary proceedings against Cofnas are an act of retaliation.
The researcher – an American self-described ‘racial realist’ – was suspended by Ghent University as a precautionary measure on 20 August. This happened shortly after the death of former Cambridge professor Jason Arday.
In an online article Cofnas had accused the Briton of plagiarism. After he left Cambridge under a cloud, Arday was found dead.
Cofnas broke the news of his suspension via X. In that post, he hinted that the decision may have been politically motivated and taken by De Sutter, “a former leading figure in Groen”. De Sutter was indeed a Belgian cabinet minister serving for the Flemish ecologist party making her Europe's first trans minister.
According to De Sutter, 80 disciplinary complaints have now been lodged against Cofnas. Following a legal assessment, it was decided to launch a preliminary disciplinary investigation.
She herself has nothing to do with this, the rector emphasises. “All ideologies are welcome here. This is ‘framing’, and I’m not going to play along with it. If it were ideological, that man wouldn’t have been hired in the first place.”