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CMU professor with history of social media controversy takes sabbatical after ‘hostile and threatening’ posts
triblive.com ^ | 09/12/2026 | Tawnya Panizzi

Posted on 09/12/2026 2:06:13 PM PDT by DFG

A Carnegie Mellon University professor is on a voluntary sabbatical while school officials review what they called “hostile and threatening social media posts.”

Uju Anya, an associate professor of second language acquisition, is under scrutiny following a 2021 exchange on X in which she is alleged to have posted, “Die first, white man,” in a thread between herself and a user with the handle @TheWuhanClan. That user shared screenshots of the five-year-old exchanged on Friday.

Carnegie Mellon posted to X on Friday, saying, “Dr. Uju Anya is currently on voluntary professional leave from the university and is not teaching courses on our campus this academic year. We are deeply concerned by recent hostile and threatening social media posts by Dr. Anya and are reviewing this matter closely.”

The post has gotten more than 24,000 likes and 5,000 replies.

Anya, a 2023 Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellow and a 2023 Duolingo Research Fellow, could not be reached for comment. An auto reply from her school contact said she is not checking her email frequently while on professional leave.

Her X account appears to be deactivated as of Saturday afternoon.

According to Vanguard News, the public argument between Anya and @TheWuhanClan escalated Friday after the X user shared screenshots and details of their exchange. It started with @TheWuhanClan responding to a Feb. 17, 2021 post by Anya about the late conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in which she posted, “Rush Limbaugh finally did something positive in life by dropping dead. Good Riddance to bad rubbish.”

The X user responded, “Weird how you only celebrate the deaths of white people. Why is that?”

Her answer: “Die first, white man, then ask yourself why I’m dancing.”

Carnegie Mellon took to X again Saturday to reiterate their position.

They posted: “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.”

Previous controversies

This is not the first time Anya has been embroiled in social media controversy.

She received backlash following a September 2022 post, also on X, about Queen Elizabeth II shortly before the monarch’s death.

“I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating,” Anya posted to Twitter.

It was subsequently deleted for violating the online platform’s rules but it caused a firestorm of both critics and supporters.

More than 3,000 people signed a letter rallying around Anya at the time.

She told Pittsburgh-based media company 1Hood that the post was spontaneous.

“I had an emotional reaction and had an emotional outburst. I was triggered by this news,” she said in the interview. “It went in deep places of pain and trauma for me due to my family’s experience with the rule of this monarch.”

She said that her parents and some siblings lived in a part of Nigeria that was trying to gain independence from Great Britain during the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s. Anya said conservative estimates say the war resulted in the death of 3 million civilians, and that her family was lucky to escape unharmed.

Carnegie Mellon addressed the 2022 incident with a statement that said her words were offensive and objectionable, but ultimately did not punish Anya, citing her right to free expression.

In 2024, Anya posted after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler Township, saying, “It was staged. Like a stupid Tubi movie set in the Bronx with palm trees in the background.”

She posted most recently on the anniversary of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk’s death in September 2025, calling it “Kirkmas.”


TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: carnegiemellon; kirkmas; ujuanya
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https://x.com/TheWuhanClan/status/2098123116140454088
1 posted on 09/12/2026 2:06:13 PM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG
Nigerian
2 posted on 09/12/2026 2:06:58 PM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG

“Carnegie Mellon addressed the 2022 incident with a statement that said her words were offensive and objectionable, but ultimately did not punish Anya, citing her right to free expression. “

Carnegie Mellon should be punished and closed.


3 posted on 09/12/2026 2:12:46 PM PDT by Diogenesis (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: DFG

What a bunch of BS.


4 posted on 09/12/2026 2:13:14 PM PDT by Skywise
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To: DFG

A friend teaching seventh grade showed me an email from the school board. It was specific. If any teacher wrote anything “controversial” online they could be fired. The board recommended that they drop any social media activity whatsoever.

Yet there apparently isn’t any such policy at universities. You’d think they’d be as concerned as the local board with their staff saying nasty things online.


5 posted on 09/12/2026 2:14:02 PM PDT by Gen.Blather (Oh, gosh! I said that out loud. I'm so sorry.)
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To: DFG

Paid Sabbatical?

Of course!

Subsidies for The Party Of Hate


6 posted on 09/12/2026 2:17:04 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try. )
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To: DFG

TAKE AWAY HER SPEAR!


7 posted on 09/12/2026 2:20:28 PM PDT by 2harddrive (https://rumble.com/vdptuf-best-election-fraud-video-ever-unmasked-have-we-uncovered-the-truth-about)
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To: DFG

October 1, 1960:

https://www.thehistoryville.com/nigeria-independence/


8 posted on 09/12/2026 2:22:31 PM PDT by Brian Griffin
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