Carnegie Mellon University stated that it is reviewing social media posts by Dr. Uju Anya, an associate professor of second language acquisition, after a post she wrote on X drew criticism from Elon Musk and resurfaced attention on Jeff Bezos’ earlier comments about her.
On September 11, Uju Anya wrote on X: “Die first, white man, then ask yourself why I’m dancing.” The post appeared to answer someone who accused her of celebrating the deaths of white public figures selectively. Screenshots of the post spread quickly, and Elon Musk shared a Grok summary of her history with the comment, “This is a real professor at Carnegie Mellon University.”
The university responded on its official account: “We are deeply concerned by recent hostile and threatening social media posts by Dr. Anya and are reviewing this matter closely.” It added in a follow-up post: “To be clear: These posts incorrectly imply our university’s endorsement and are contrary to our community standards and values, as well as our commitment to fostering a safe, respectful and welcoming campus community.”
Carnegie Mellon also confirmed that Anya is currently on voluntary professional leave and will not teach courses on campus this academic year. The university has not announced any suspension, dismissal, or other formal disciplinary measure. She also seemed to have deactivated her X account following the backlash.
This is not Anya’s first collision with public outrage. In September 2022, as Queen Elizabeth II’s health worsened, she wrote on X: “I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.” Bezos quoted the post and wrote: “This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow.”
Twitter removed the post for violating its rules at the time. Anya, born in Nigeria, defended her words afterward: “If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family… you can keep wishing upon a star.” Carnegie Mellon issued a statement then too: “We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account… the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution.”
More recently, her posts around the one-year anniversary of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing also drew criticism online.
Anya’s academic record is not in dispute, however. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Romance languages from Dartmouth College, a master’s in Brazilian studies from Brown University, and a doctorate in applied linguistics from UCLA. Before joining Carnegie Mellon in 2021, she taught at Penn State and the University of Southern California. She earned tenure in 2024 and was named a Duolingo Research Fellow and a Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellow in 2023. Her research focuses on race and Black experience in language learning.
As of Saturday, neither Anya nor a Carnegie Mellon spokesperson had issued further public comment. What happens next depends on how far the university’s review goes. Tenure normally protects a professor from termination without a formal process, and the school has so far used careful language, calling this a review rather than a disciplinary case.
