The Fall and Rise of Jason Arday
Mary McDonald-Lewis the rise and downfall of Cambridge professor Jason Arday, arguing that his story raises broader questions about merit, accountability, and the institutional culture that helped elevate him. The essay considers what happens when reputation and identity become more important than scrutiny—and the consequences for both individuals and the institutions that champion them.
“There are many still alive who had a hand in this. And they are frantic to re-write his story now: Those who fawned over him. Who deliberately looked away from the many signs and portents signaling that the shaky credentials and the man himself demanded deeper scrutiny. The smug universities that treated him like both an exotic prince and a scalp brought home from the Indian Wars. The Marxists, who cynically turned him from a troubled man into a golden calf.
All of them put this man in the earth.”
Merit, Identity, and the Rhetoric of Oppression
FAIR Board of Advisors member Erec Smith examines the relationship between DEI, meritocracy, and the language of oppression. Drawing on his experience testifying before Congress, Smith argues that framing people primarily through narratives of victimhood can limit rather than empower them—and calls for an approach centered on agency, achievement, and open dialogue.
“We can reject the tragic outlook and choose one of triumph, heroism, and empowerment, not as conditions we acquire but as conditions we possess in the first place. There is hope. Scholars like Lindsey Stewart and Badia Ahad-Legardy are doing interesting work that rejects the reduction of black American life to tragedy and trauma.”
How Affirmative Action Backfires on Minority Students, and Why Colleges Do It Anyway
Kenny Xu examines the unintended consequences of race-conscious admissions policies, arguing that attempts to increase diversity can ultimately undermine the students those policies are intended to benefit. Xu focuses on the tension between institutional diversity goals and merit-based standards, and asks whether students are truly served when admissions decisions move away from individual achievement.
“When students are admitted to college for reasons other than their own merit, they will soon find themselves struggling to cope with expectations they were not prepared for. The school may score its diversity points, but minority students will often be ill-served.”