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Officials at Cambridge College in Massachusetts recently hired a former FBI agent to find out who is behind an anonymous mock newspaper that bashed college leaders. Copies of the mock newspaper were mailed in June to faculty members, donors, an accrediting group, news-media outlets, and members of the college’s Board of Trustees. The critique argues that the college faces budget deficits and is on the verge of closing. It also mocks and condemns Eileen M. Brown, the college’s chancellor and co-founder. Jonathan Z. Larsen, chair of the Board of Trustees, refuted the mock newspaper’s charges, which he called “petty grievances, revenge fantasies, and character assassinations.” He also told the Globe that the board hired a private investigator last week to identify the sham newspaper’s authors “with forensic certainty.” It has been a busy year for trustees, who in January fired the college’s president, Mahesh C. Sharma, after investigating his spending and hiring practices. There is no word yet on whether or not the fake newspaper was printed or distributed by students.

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