Kerri Dunn, the Claremont McKenna College visiting psychology professor who authorities now believe faked a hate crime against herself has been put on paid leave. Other faculty will take over her courses while the school reviews the results of the police investigation and decides what to do. Dunn denies involvement, though before she became a suspect she did suggest to investigators that they look among her students and their friends for the perpetrator, since they knew she was considering converting to Judaism (though Dunn is a Catholic, anti-Semitic slurs were painted on her car).

Meanwhile, the L.A. Times prints a telling letter to the editor:

Is it possible that life is imitating art? The Laguna Playhouse produced the Southern California premiere of Rebecca Gilman's acclaimed play "Spinning Into Butter" in September 2001, about how hate letters throw a small liberal arts college campus into turmoil, prompting sympathy for the victim and a campus forum on racism. In the play, the victim is discovered to have written the letters himself, upturning political correctness and knee-jerk public reaction.

Sound familiar?

Richard Stein
Executive Director
Laguna Playhouse
Laguna Beach