Students and staff protest for termination of Cambridge University ‘race realist’ fellow

Cambridge students have hosted a protest calling for the termination of controversial “race realist” fellow Nathan Cofnas at the university.

Students belonging to the Faculty of Philosophy, as well as others, gathered outside the department building on the Sidgwick Site at 1pm yesterday, in protest of Cofnas.

Students gather outside the Faculty of Philosophy building (Image credit: Christopher Lorde)

A source has told the The Cambridge Tab that even two members employed by the Faculty of Philosophy joined the students in their protest.

Speeches and chants such as “fire Nathan Cofnas” were delivered, before the protestors marched to Cambridge’s Student Services Centre with the intention of lodging complaints against Cofnas’ position at the university.

However, once they arrived at the centre, the protesters found the doors locked and were informed they would not be able to lodge their complaints.

Protesters try to enter the Student Services Centre (Image credit: Christopher Lorde)

The protest was enacted in response to a controversial blog post where the Philosophy Research Associate argued that in a colourblind system, the percentage of black people occupying “high-profile” positions such as Harvard professorships would “approach zero per cent.”

Joe, a student involved in the protest, has told The Cambridge Tab: “What we want from the protest is that Cofnas is removed from his position in the philosophy faculty.

“Someone with his pseudoscientific racist views should never have been appointed in the first place and the faculty have let us down badly by allowing Cofnas to supervise and examine students.

Protest at the Sidgwick Site (Image credit: Christopher Lorde)

“If they want to show they care about philosophy students, then the faculty must finally take this issue seriously and get rid of him.”

At a town hall on Cofnas’ employment, hosted at Emmanuel College on Wednesday evening, it was announced that Cofnas has voluntarily resigned from his teaching and examining responsibilities. However, students still express concerns regarding his position as a research fellow.

In an official statement, Cambridge UCU commented: “We urge both the University of Cambridge and Emmanuel College to open their own investigations into whether Cofnas’s work contravenes the Equality Act.”

You can read Nathan Cofnas’ full controversial blog post here.

The University of Cambridge, The Faculty of Philosophy, Emmanuel College and Nathan Cofnas have all been contacted for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Christopher Lorde

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