Dozens of students left a graduation ceremony at Ghent University after the faculty’s honorary vice-rector denounced what he called a “lynching” of the American philosopher Nathan Cofnas.
The walkout came during the proclamation of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy.
Professor Freddy Mortier, a honorary vice-rector and professor in ethics , used the platform to call out colleagues who had ganged up on Cofnas.
“The claim that there are hereditary genetic differences between groups of different skin colours in terms of intelligence – I have absolutely no sympathy for that claim, far from it, but it is perfectly understandable. And it makes sense,” Mortier told the students. “It has never been proven that this claim is false.”
Mortier talked about “colleagues who were incited against him [Cofnas] and motivated to file disciplinary complaints.”
According to the vice-rector, it was an organised action from Ghent University against Cofnas. “Nobody comes up with that spontaneously.”
The room jeered. Students walked out to applause and shouted that he was “defending a racist”.
Mortier shot back that they were watching a live demonstration of cancellation: he was trying to explain something and was not even allowed to finish. Dean Gita Deneckere then called his remarks “completely inappropriate” for a degree ceremony. The event continued without him.
Later, Mortier told Belgian media that he was disillusioned about the fact that the university “lost the plot” regarding Cofnas.
“During a speech, I like to take a moment to reflect on what has characterised the past year. In this case, the subject was obvious. But I underestimated how sensitive the issue is. Had I known that, I would never have brought it up.”
Onwaarschijnlijk dit. Decaan wijsbegeerte (!) stopt eerst de speech van professor Mortier omdat studenten boe roepen. Daarna biedt ze zelfs haar verontschuldigingen aan bij de boe-roepende studenten.
De speech was niet eens aanstootgevend. Waar gaan we heen als dit al niet meer… pic.twitter.com/ZKz7kOGIkB
— Maurits Vande Reyde (@Mauritsvdr) September 16, 2026
Since Cofnas arrived this year as a postdoctoral researcher on a liberalism project, students formed “Students Against Cofnas”, gathered more than 2,000 petition signatures and treated his presence as a standing emergency.
His department issued a public statement, later taken down, that his appointment had become a source of workplace unrest.
Rector Petra De Sutter’s August suspension letter listed the harvest: Trustpunt wellbeing files, a psychosocial study, a guest lecturer who pulled out, talk of a boycott, and “more than 100 emails” of concern in a single week. On Flemish television she later put the disciplinary complaints at 80.
The letter treated the unrest itself as evidence against him, even though Cofnas barely set foot on campus.
An internal email from a tenured professor in Cofnas’s own department showed the “barrage” of wellbeing complaints was coordinated and explicitly encouraged by rector Petra De Sutter.
Cofnas, who describes himself as a “race realist”, was hired at Ghent this year on a project about liberalism.
Petitions and departmental votes followed.
Critics say that the Ghent University, is starting to resemble Maoist China, where professors were lynched if they don’t tow the Communist line.
Flemish Minister for Education Zuhal Demir (N-VA) said that students should listen to ideas that make them feel uncomfortable. She describes the fact that students left the hall during the speech as “rude, cowardly and stupid”.
In July Cofnas published convincing evidence that Cambridge sociologist Jason Arday had plagiarised.
Arday, appointed in 2023 as Cambridge’s youngest black professor at the age of 37 and celebrated as a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) success story, resigned and was later found dead.
Ghent suspended Cofnas in August, then let him work from home and barred him from teaching while an inquiry ran.
More than 800 leading academics signed a letter against the suspension; a counter-letter supporting the university was launched as well.
Rector Petra De Sutter, a former Green deputy prime minister, has said the case may force a rewrite of hiring rules.
Nathan Cofnas spoke with Brussels Signal about the case in late August.
