College president: Faith fight not source of student suspension

A Florida college that faced criticism for suspending a Christian student did not take action against him over an ongoing dispute with a Muslim humanities professor, the college president said Monday. Marshall Polston, 20, claimed professor Areej Zufari singled him out for his faith and verbally attacked Christians in class. But Rollins College President Grant Cornwell told the Orlando Sentinel that Polston got his suspension for “vulgar” and “mean-spirited” social media posts about another student. Administrators eventually determined the posts did not amount to threats and reinstated Polston. Cornwell insisted the school’s action had nothing to do with Polston’s months-long dispute with Zufari. Even so, the professor resigned after the controversy exploded, saying she’d been targeted by “hateful threats and emails and phones messages,” Cornwell said.