US varsity probes Uju Anya’s ‘threatening’ posts amid backlash

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, said it has begun reviewing recent social media posts attributed to Nigerian-born academic Dr Uju Anya, describing the remarks as “hostile and threatening” amid mounting backlash online.

Anya is an associate professor of second-language acquisition in the university’s Department of Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics.

The university said Anya is currently on voluntary professional leave and is not teaching on campus during the 2026/27 academic year.

The development follows renewed scrutiny of several posts attributed to the academic on X, including a controversial exchange in which she allegedly wished death on a “white man.”

The controversy escalated on Friday after an X user, Wuhan Fourth Turning Swan (@TheWuhanClan), shared screenshots and details of the exchange involving Anya.

According to the account and widely circulated screenshots, @TheWuhanClan responded to a February 17, 2021 post by Anya about the late conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

Anya had written, “Rush Limbaugh finally did something positive in life by dropping dead. Good Riddance to bad rubbish.”

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

Anya responded, “Die first, white man, then ask yourself why I’m dancing.”

Carnegie Mellon addressed the controversy in a statement posted on X on Saturday.

“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,” it said.

In a follow-up statement, the university stressed that the posts did not represent its position.

“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,” it said.

Anya’s X account subsequently became inaccessible following the backlash, triggering reports that she had deactivated it.

@TheWuhanClan continued to comment on the controversy, including in a post directed at Carnegie Mellon.

“I take this death threat against me very seriously, and your failure to discipline her wishing death and injury on multiple others in the past has encouraged her to behave even more belligerently. She is laughing about how you won’t do shit. Own this,” the social media user wrote.

Commenting on the university’s statement, the account also wrote, “Her posts imply you endorse this behavior. Why would anyone pay 70k to attend your school or donate to be exposed to this filth and violence?”

The controversy also attracted the attention of X owner Elon Musk, who posted, “This is a real professor at Carnegie Mellon University …” while quoting a Grok discussion identifying Anya by her full name as Obianuju Anya and describing her as a CMU staff member since 2021.

Anya had not publicly responded to the university’s statements as of press time.

In September 2022, she faced international backlash after posting a message about the late 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,” she wrote.

The post was subsequently deleted for violating Twitter rules.

Following the announcement of the Queen’s death, Anya wrote that she felt disdain for the monarch, whom she accused of representing a government that sponsored the genocide that killed and displaced members of her family during the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, between 1967 and 1970.

In an interview with The Cut, Anya said the British monarchy represented the legacy of enslavement and colonialism.

She said her parents were colonial subjects, with one from Trinidad and the other from Nigeria, and that both survived the Biafran conflict.

Anya alleged that the British government supported and provided political cover for the Nigerian side during the war, adding that the consequences had shaped her life and those of others.

“Half of my family was slaughtered with guns and bombs that this queen sent to kill us,” she stated.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos later quote-tweeted her original post and questioned how someone working to make the world better could make such remarks.

Anya responded by wishing that people harmed by Bezos would remember him as fondly as she remembered her “colonisers.”