The Claremont Colleges were rocked last week by police allegations that a reported hate crime on campus was actually a hoax.

If the allegations turn out to be true, the professor involved should be prosecuted -- and not just for submitting false crime reports, but for a hate crime as well. Otherwise, the situation creates an unacceptable double standard.

Professor Kerri Dunn reported her car vandalized and painted with racial epithets as she spoke at a free speech seminar on March 9. Now police say Dunn vandalized her own car, based on the testimony of eye witnesses and inconsistencies in Dunn's story.

Dunn has denied the accusation, and local and federal law enforcement officials are considering whether to file charges, though apparently she won't be charged with a hate crime.

But why not? Anti-hate crime statutes cover not just attacks on specific people, but intimidation of the larger community, as well. Certainly, the Claremont Colleges perceived the incident as a threat to the college community, otherwise administrators would not have canceled classes to hold a day-long rally against hate.

Has that circumstance changed because police now say the whole crime was a hoax? Had the police determined someone else had vandalized the professor's car, it would be considered a hate crime.

So painting offensive racial epithets on a car is only a crime if you really mean them? Throwing the Claremont campuses into turmoil and spreading fear among students and faculty doesn't count if it's just a hoax? Are such actions only crimes if certain classes of people do them, or does the law apply to everyone?

If those actions don't constitute a hate crime, there's a basic hypocrisy at work here.

If the police version of events proves to be true, Dunn should also be held accountable by the colleges. The incident drew national attention, and the colleges face major embarrassment if it turns out an institution that teaches critical thinking jumped to conclusions before knowing the facts. In that case, her employment should be terminated and the colleges should withdraw their offer to pay for the damage to her car, at the least.

Dunn said the police accusations overshadowed the larger issue -- the tolerance of hate speech and hate crimes on campus. But if the only way to draw attention to the issue is to create an incident to protest, how big a problem is hatred on Claremont campuses?

Should the incident turn out to be a fraud, then Dunn has done more harm to her cause than good. Instead of highlighting the evil of hatred, a hoax trivializes the issue, making people skeptical when real incidents of prejudice and bigotry occur. Cry "wolf" once too often, and people cease paying attention.

Let's be clear: Hating people for their skin color or their religion or other such characteristics is despicable and ignorant. But using that issue to manipulate and intimidate people is also wrong -- and should be punished to the full extent of the law.