Carnegie Mellon University professor Dr Uju Anya is facing scrutiny over a series of old social media posts that have recently resurfaced online. The posts, which included comments about the deaths of public figures that went viral.
Anya’s research focuses on language learning and Black experiences in multilingual settings, with an emphasis on how race, gender, sexual and social class identities connect with language learning. University President Farnam Jahanian and Provost James H. Their statement read, “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 book won the 2019 American Association for Applied Linguistics First Book Award. And as per reports, Anya was born in Nigeria and has worked at Carnegie Mellon University since 2021.
Carnegie Mellon has since said it is reviewing the matter and taking action, while Anya is on voluntary professional leave and is not teaching on campus this year. Uju Anya is a scholar who studies language learning and Black experiences in multilingual settings, according to the Carnegie Mellon University website . As per the university website, her 2017 book, “Racialized Identities in Second Language Learning: Speaking Blackness in Brazil,” examines how students build identities while using multiple languages, and was the first single-author sociolinguistic study to closely examine the African American experience in language learning. Musk shared the post from her now-deleted account, writing, “This is a real professor at Carnegie Mellon University …” This led internet users to dig up and archive more of her past posts. Carnegie Mellon University said Monday it is taking “swift action” after finding that Anya’s recent social media posts broke university community standards, with some colleagues saying they now fear for their safety, according to Fox News . Garrett Jr. said in a statement that Anya used “expletives, racial slurs and derogatory language that demeaned, dehumanized and intimidated,” while using her Carnegie Mellon affiliation and implying support from university colleagues.
How the university responded
Hours after Anya’s posts went viral, Carnegie Mellon announced on its website that she “is currently on voluntary professional leave from the university and not teaching courses on our campus this year.”
