(CNN) – George Washington University is looking into a confession by a professor of African American Studies that she has been pretending to be Black.

Jessica Krug admits she was born a white, Jewish girl from Kansas City, not the Black Latina from the inner city she claimed to be in her books.

Krug, whose work has been up for prestigious Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass book prizes, is now calling herself a “culture leech.”

Critics say the author and associate professor made the admission not to clear her conscience but because she was found out.

In a blog post, Professor Krug calls herself a coward and says she deserves to be canceled, blaming it all on mental illness.

Essence Magazine has removed her writing from its website.

George Washington University says it cannot comment further on personnel matters.

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