A conservative Christian student at a private college in Florida says he was suspended after he opposed his Muslim professor, who said that the crucifixion of Jesus was a hoax.
Marshall Polston, a 21-year-old sophomore, was suspended from Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. In late March for being a “threat of disruption.”
According to the Central Florida Post, Polston said he challenged Professor Areeje Zufari during their “Muslim Humanities” class when she said that Jesus wasn’t crucified and that his disciples didn’t actually believe Jesus was God.
Polston said he was then given a grade of a 52 on his next essay.
“I was upset, understandably. I’ve never gotten anything less than straight A’s,” Polston said. “So, I was really interested in figuring out how to possibly improve or at least understand the grade.”
He spoke with the professor, but Polston said she then reported him to the college’s Dean of Safety.
In another of Zufari’s classes, during a discussion of Sharia law, a Muslim student argued that “a good punishment for gays, adulterers, and thieves was the removal of a certain body part, as determined by Sharia law.”
His comments were not reported as unsafe, Polston said.
Later, Polston was asked to report to the dean’s office.
“They made it clear that they had not gotten a report about what the student said, and were more concerned about the danger I was causing to the campus,” Polston said. “What danger? A difference of opinion in a college classroom is nothing out of the ordinary and certainly not dangerous. It was surreal and degrading.”
Rollins College has not released a comment regarding the suspension. … read more