Carnegie Mellon University says it is reviewing social media posts by associate professor Uju Anya, which the school described as “hostile and threatening,” after Anya used the terms “Kirkmas” and “Kirk Mubarak” around the first anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated on Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University during his American Comeback Tour.
The Pittsburgh-based university told Fox News Digital on Friday that Anya is currently on voluntary professional leave and is not teaching any courses on campus this academic year. A university spokesperson said that leave was already in place before the recent posts surfaced.
“Dr. Uju Anya is currently on voluntary professional leave from the university and is not teaching courses on our campus this academic year,” a Carnegie Mellon media relations spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are deeply concerned by recent hostile and threatening social media posts by Dr. Anya and are reviewing this matter closely. 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.”
Anya, writing on X around the anniversary of Kirk’s death, posted: “They began already, and it ain’t even Kirkmas kirk mubarak, y’all!” Another post attributed to her account read: “Die first, white man, and then ask yourself why I am dancing.” Her X account has since been deleted.
According to her Carnegie Mellon faculty bio, Anya is described as “a scholar of language learning and Black experiences in multilingualism,” whose research covers critical applied linguistics, critical sociolinguistics and critical discourse studies, examining how race, gender, sexual and social class identities intersect with language learning. She is the author of “Racialized Identities in Second Language Learning: Speaking Blackness in Brazil” and has taught courses including “Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Class in Second Language Learning” and “Hip Hop and Funk Discourses of Black Womanhood in Brazil and the U.S.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Anya for comment. The incident is one of several reported in recent days involving university-affiliated individuals and public commentary about Kirk’s death, including a case at the University of Tennessee involving flyers that appeared to celebrate the assassination.
