I haven't read any of Arday's academic work, I don't know if it's good, and I don't know if it would have grown into something good or great. But unstated in all this is that all of these assholes would be similarly vulnerable if the Eye Of Sauron turned it's gaze on them and laid bare their life for everyone to Judge.

I can imagine all of these posh assholes at these Elite Institutions just malding every time they interact with this guy. In their minds, his greatest crime was not any supposed academic misconduct, and it was certainly not the exaggerations or lies about his life story. No, it was that he was as savvy as they were and understood how and play all their stupid fucking games, and had the gumption to Fucking Go For it when he saw an opportunity for advancement. And the prize he so unfairly stole from them was... the opportunity to do sociology research. How dare he!