Nathan Cofnas and the great free speech con

Cofnas was already known for his views on race, which it would be disingenuous to call controversial – they are both repellent and intellectually vapid. He believes that there are genetically based differences in average IQ linked to race, and has said that in a genuine meritocracy, “Blacks would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment.”

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Such claims have no scientific support whatsoever: it’s essentially old-fashioned racism dressed up as “race science”. The likes of Elon Musk and Donald Trump love this stuff, but it has no connection to mainstream science, existing in its own ecosystem dressed in the trappings of science and funded by far-right donors and think tanks. Cofnas was sacked by Cambridge University in 2024 on the grounds that his views on race challenged the institution’s core values.

Ghent is now saying much the same. As it opposes “all forms of indirect or direct discrimination, exclusion, segregation, racism, and unequal treatment”, it is hard to see how Cofnas’s position there could be tenable. The university also says that by continuing to voice these views publicly as an academic at the university employed in a different field, he has violated the terms of his employment. 

There is no indication that the academics who have signed the letter of protest have considered any of this. They imply that Cofnas’s suspension is simply a woke reaction that suppresses his freedom of expression. 

Now, the university has not exactly covered itself in glory by maintaining Cofnas’s appointment for so long (300 staff and students raised objections in March, well before the Arday affair). But as its letter to Cofnas says, academic freedom does not mean a right to say whatever you want. “Freedom of expression is not unlimited”, it says. “You do not incite discrimination, hatred, violence, or segregation against others” and “You do not spread ideas about the superiority of a race or racial hatred.”

The protest letter is rendered all the more absurd by the fact that Cofnas himself has said, “Our institutions are teeming with woke fanatics who will never listen to reason and should be purged” – hardly a call for academic freedom.

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But we should probably not expect much logic or consistency from the signatories. There are many of them I don’t know, but among those I do are the usual suspects in the culture wars, ready to scream foul about alleged wokeness while remaining silent about all kinds of rights abuses perpetrated at the behest of the Trump administration.

My sense is that at least some of these people genuinely consider themselves to be politically neutral defenders of academic values – a delusion so enormous that one has to wonder what quality of thought informs their academic work. They are, in short, the academic equivalent of Toby Young’s Free Speech Union – a politicised organization claiming to defend the principles of civilised society. Still, perhaps it’s useful to have this list so we can calibrate the intellectual worth of future proclamations by these individuals. 

While the disciplinary procedure continues, the US ambassador to Belgium has attempted to intervene with the university on Cofnas’s behalf. When white supremacy is at stake, “academic freedom” evidently matters to the US administration.