Carnegie Mellon University has placed linguistics professor Dr. Uju Anya on voluntary leave while it investigates a series of disturbing social media posts that resurfaced and went viral over the weekend. The posts — many of which Anya wrote years ago — included celebrations of public figures’ deaths and a recent reply telling a critic, “Die first, white man, then ask yourself why I’m dancing.”
Anya, who joined Carnegie Mellon in 2021, has long been known for provocative online commentary. She previously wished Queen Elizabeth II an “excruciating” death, celebrated Rush Limbaugh’s passing, and marked the anniversary of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination with vulgar insults. Her posts drew renewed attention Friday after a user confronted her about her history of celebrating the deaths of white public figures. Her reply — the “die first” comment — was amplified when Elon Musk shared it, prompting widespread backlash and a wave of users digging up her past posts.
Initially, Anya mocked critics who threatened to contact her employer, insisting Carnegie Mellon had recruited her aggressively and was fully aware of her online persona. She claimed her department chair was ignoring complaints and “throwing emails in the trash.”
But within hours, the university issued a public statement announcing that Anya was on voluntary professional leave and would not be teaching during the 2026–27 academic year. The school said it was “deeply concerned” by her “hostile and threatening” posts and emphasized that her comments did not reflect Carnegie Mellon’s values or standards.
More archived posts continued to surface, including her 2022 message anticipating Queen Elizabeth’s death and wishing her pain, as well as a video she shared mocking Charlie Kirk’s killing. As criticism mounted, Anya made her Instagram private and limited communication, claiming she was being harassed, doxxed, and threatened by “fascist white supremacist MAGA trolls.” She insisted she had no regrets, writing, “I meant every word I said… I do not retract or apologize. May they all eat s–t.”
Anya has previously acknowledged that university administrators told her her behavior embarrassed the institution, but she has maintained that she is the one calling out injustice, not causing it. In a past Medium post, she argued that Carnegie Mellon should be more concerned about its associations with global political actors than with her social media tone.
Carnegie Mellon has not clarified whether her leave is directly tied to the recent controversy. An automatic reply from her university email states she is away on sabbatical for the 2026–27 academic year and not checking messages regularly.
