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Thousands of professors and students signed a petition in support of a Carnegie Mellon University professor who wished Queen Elizabeth a 'excruciating' death just hours before she died last week.
Prof. Uju Anya, a Nigerian-American language professor, tweeted on Thursday that "the chief monarch of a stealing, raping, and killing empire is finally dying."
Anya added, "May her pain be unbearable," which drew criticism from people like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
As of Monday afternoon, nearly 4,000 people had signed a petition to defend Anya. The petition says that Queen Elizabeth II "literally colonized" her.
In a statement released Thursday, CMU tried to distance itself from Anya by calling her tweets "offensive and objectionable."
"Free speech is at the heart of what higher education is all about," the Pittsburgh university said. "However, the views she expressed have nothing to do with the values of the institution or the standards of discourse we want to encourage."
The college in Pittsburgh hasn't said if it will cut ties with Anya.
In the petition supporting Anya, CMU's statement is called "unacceptable," "dehumanizing," and "appalling."
It also says that donations Bezos has made to CMU in the past may have affected how the school responded to the scandal.
The petition says, "CMU had a choice, and their choice was to betray one of their own highly regarded and respected scholars." "It has given her even more reason to be afraid of violence."
"Views are mine" is clear on Professor Anya's Twitter, the petition says. "Yet her institution took up the charge to reprimand a Black woman professor, calling her response to the real and tangible effects of colonialism and white supremacy on her life "offensive and objectionable."
"We call on universities to stop being reactive when issues of structural oppression are brought to their attention and to take seriously how it affects staff, faculty, students, and families," it says.
Anya and CMU did not respond right away when asked for comments.
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