Carnegie Mellon University said Monday it is taking “swift action” against associate professor Uju Anya after determining her recent social media posts violated the school’s community standards. Some of her colleagues told university leaders they now fear for their personal safety.
President Farnam Jahanian and Provost James H. Garrett Jr. said in a statement that Anya used “expletives, racial slurs and derogatory language that demeaned, dehumanized and intimidated,” while invoking her Carnegie Mellon affiliation and implying her colleagues backed her.
“Carnegie Mellon University is a place where rigorous inquiry, freedom of expression and mutual respect must coexist. We take that responsibility seriously, and we strongly reject language that is hateful and disparages or calls for the harm of others. Such rhetoric is inconsistent with the dignity, respect and responsibility that we expect from one another.”
The statement continued: “Dr. Anya’s choice of language violates our shared community standards and distracts from the seriousness and significance of CMU’s scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.”
The university noted Anya is already on voluntary professional leave through summer 2027 and is not teaching classes for CMU this academic year.
Anya, described on her Carnegie Mellon bio page as “a scholar of language learning and Black experiences in multilingualism,” wrote on X as the anniversary of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination approached: “They began already, and it ain’t even Kirkmas kirk mubarak, y’all!” Another post attributed to her read, “Die first, White man, and then ask yourself why I am dancing.” Her X account now appears deleted.
Carnegie Mellon said university leaders met with faculty and administrators over the weekend, where employees described being doxxed and receiving threatening messages. Campus police are monitoring the situation but have found no credible threats to the university, according to CMU.
Jahanian and Garrett said they would take “swift action in accordance with our processes” and pledged continued support for “impacted community members, including our students.”
The Carnegie Mellon College Republicans are calling for Anya’s firing. In a Sunday letter, the group wrote that Anya’s posts follow “a clear pattern of behavior,” pointing to a 2022 post in which she wrote, “May her pain be excruciating,” as Queen Elizabeth II was dying — a post that prompted Carnegie Mellon to publicly distance itself from her at the time.
“Friday’s posts demonstrate a clear pattern of behavior, one that does not match the conduct expected of a professor at an institution of higher education,” the group said.
Anya did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
