LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The head of Cambridge University on Monday condemned a “racist feeding frenzy” prompted by plagiarism claims against the black academic Jason Arday, who was found dead last week after resigning from his post.

After Arday, Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor, was found dead Friday following multiple plagiarism accusations, Chris Smith, the university’s chancellor, told the BBC he believed it was important that claims of plagiarism were “rigorously investigated”.

But Smith said it was also right to “refuse to join in a racist feeding frenzy over a particular academic”, without naming Arday directly.