The email for this article was deactivated after Rollins College reinstated Marshall Polston and the professor resigned.

Rollins College has reinstated student Marshall Poston.  Florida Family Association sent out an email alert on March 29, 2017 that encouraged thousands of people to send emails to a dozen trustees urging them to reinstate student Marshall Polston and reprimand Professor Areeje Zufari.  That March 29, 2017 email alert is posted below.

Professor Areeje Zufari should be terminated for slandering Mr. Polston, acting against what was academically best for Rollins’ students and for filing false reports with the college and police.

Florida Family Association has prepared an email for you to send that urges Rollins College’s Board of Trustees to terminate Professor Areej Zufari based upon her defamatory actions toward Mr. Polston, grossly unprofessional conduct and filing false reports to the college and police.

The email for this article was deactivated after Rollins College reinstated Marshall Polston and the professor resigned.

March 29, 2017 email alert and article:

A Rollins College Muslim professor who defended anti-Semitism and aided lover in radicalizing children has a Christian student suspended for voicing concern about anti-Christian and brutal Sharia comments made in class.

Rollins College suspended student Marshall Polston after he voiced concern during two classes about the Muslim professor’s derogatory statements about Jesus and a Muslim student’s brutal condemnation of homosexuals.

•    Marshall Polston’s Muslim Professor Areej Zufari allegedly taught “that the crucifixion of Jesus was a hoax and that his disciples did not believe he was God.”  

•    A Muslim student in the class advocated that homosexuals should be decapitated pursuant to Sharia law.  

•    Muslim Professor Areej Zufari gave straight A student Marshall Polston an F on an essay after he vocalized his opposition to the professor’s and student’s Islamist statements.

•    Muslim Professor Areej Zufari had Marshall Polston suspended after he sent her an email inquiring about the reason why she gave him a failing grade.  She claimed he threatened her but the only threat he made was to make public what she was doing if she did not stop her harassment toward him. 

•    Muslim Professor Areej Zufari filed a false police report against Marshall Polston.

The following article published by the Central Florida Post on March 28, 2017 reports many troubling facts regarding Professor Areej Zufari. 

Rollins Professor Defended Anti-Semitism, Aided Lover In Radicalizing Children

Middle Eastern & Muslim Humanities Professor Areej Zufari’s past includes allegations of radicalizing her lover’s two sons, fundraising for a man connected to the WTC bombing in 1993, and defending “Death To All Jews” statements.

By Jacob Engels

On Saturday, the Central Florida Post reported on the suspension of Rollins College student Marshall Polston, who clashed with Professor Zufari over radical hate speech uttered by another student during class.

Polston says that the student was responding to a question posed about how Sharia Law should be interpreted.

“He said it should be followed to the letter. Whatever punishment was just for anything from homosexuality to stealing, it was to be followed and interpreted as such. It was very concerning to hear,” reiterated Polston.

Weeks before this incident, Zufari had given Polston a failing grade without explanation, after the two disagreed over Zufari proclaiming during the first class that the Crucifixion of Christ was a hoax… as was the idea that Jesus’s disciples did not think he was “divine.”

Polston reached out and demanded an explanation from the professor, but she instead reported him to the Dean of Safety for making her feel “unsafe.”

The straight-A student would ultimately be suspended on March 24th and then face outlandish allegations by Zufari, later that day.

She accused him of skulking around in the brush outside the classroom, but video surveillance from a Dr. Phillips restaurant and neighborhood gate cameras prove Polston was nowhere near the school at the time.

Now the Central Florida Post has uncovered a lawsuit filed in Orange County, FL in 2007 that contains bombshell allegations against Zufari and provide insight into her radical Wahhabi leanings.   Lawsuit is posted at this Central Florida Post article. 

Zufari is accused by Rosine Ghawji, the wife of the Maher Ghawji, of trying to indoctrinate Rosine’s two children with fanatical Islamic beliefs. Zufari had been engaged in an affair with Maher and was possibly involved in a secret marriage ceremony in Central Florida with Mr. Ghawji, according to the court documents.

Maher Ghawji has been tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, donated thousands to charities that funneled money to Al-Qaeda, and was even under surveillance by the F.B.I. at one point for his involvement with terrorist groups in the Middle-East.

The court documents also point to trips made by Zufari and Mr. Ghawji to Seatlle, where the court documents allege the two conducted “targeting and surveillance” of American interests.
Ms. Ghawji was not some vengeful housewife who was looking for a big divorce settlement — she actually worked with the F.B.I. as a source for years to inform on her husband’s email activity and conversations with contacts in the Middle East.

That activity proved contact with groups that were listed as terrorist organizations and letters from his brother talking about how he needed to make sure the children were raised as radical Muslim extremists.

It seems Professor Zufari was of that mindset as well, as she is seen throughout the court documents providing assistance to Maher Ghawji and his attorneys.

Zufari’s paramour exhibited Anti-Semitic hate speech under oath in a 2004 proceeding, where he also confirmed he was a Wahhabi Muslim. Ghawji told his wife he did not want Jews in his house.

“Correct, I said I don’t.” He then stated that in his religion, there is an “angel” that will help Muslims and they will “fight the Jew”.

Anti-Semitism could have drawn Zufari and Ghawji together, as she previously defended a Sheikh who appeared on Saudi television and said that Jews needed to be “annihilated.” He continued by referring to Jews as “the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the killers of prophets, and the grandsons of monkeys and pigs.”

Professor Zufari was a leader in the Central Florida Muslim community during that time and was leading the effort to bring the Sheikh to Kissimmee for a three day conference. Several anti-hate groups opposed the visit and said that Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Al-Sudais should be banned from entering America to attend the event.

When confronted with his comments, she deflected and claimed it would be “un-American” for authorities to stop his planned appearance. The Sheikh has also called for the death of Americans in the past.

Also under her watch at the Islamic Society of Central Florida, Zufari promoted an event with Brooklyn Imam Siraj Wihaj, who had been listed as a co-conspirator by the U.S. Attorney in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Zufari not only defended Jew hating comments reminiscent of the Third Reich, but also hosted a fundraiser for a man who was listed as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the 1993 WTC terrorist attack.

How did Rollins not do a proper background check on Areej Zufari before they hired her? Her past is a clear indicator of an intense personal bias, one that has apparently motivated her to malign a student and even falsify a police report.

She even went as far as enlisting a student to lie in the report as well, meaning multiple people could face charges for filing a false police report.

After we published our initial report, Marshall Polston says a student from his class informed him via a private Facebook message that “they” were organizing against him.

“I told her that the only person who has committed a crime here is Professor Zufari, who blatantly lied to the police.”

The female student continued by encouraging Mr. Polston to file a counter-report.  Read more

Contact information: 

Grant Cornwell
Office of the President
Rollins College
1000 Holt Ave. – 2711
T. 407.646.2120
F. 407.646.1501
president@rollins.edu
gcornwell@rollins.edu

Ken Miller
Assistant Vice President of Public Safety
T. 407.646.2999
kmiller@rollins.edu

Rollins College Board of Trustees

Chairman of the Board
Allan E. Keen ’70 ’71MBA ’10H
Chairman
The Keewin Real Property Company
Winter Park, Florida
allan.keen@apcpartners.com    

Vice Chairman of the Board
Theodore B. Alfond ’68
Executive Vice President / Director
–Retired
Dexter Shoe Company
Weston, Massachusetts

Rod Adkins ’81
President
3RAM Group
Miami Beach, Florida
rod.adkins@3ramgroup.com

Francis H. (Frank) Barker ’52 ’06H
Corporate Vice President–Retired
Johnson & Johnson
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Bruce A. Beal ’58
Chairman
Related Beal
Boston, Massachusetts
bbeal@related.com

William H. Bieberbach ’70 ’71MBA                  ==
President
Miller Industrial Solutions
division of Motion Industries
Orlando, Florida

Grant H. Cornwell, Ph.D.
President
Rollins College
Winter Park, Florida
gcornwell@rollins.edu

Greg Derderian ’80
CFO Transformation & Advisory Services
Global Lead - Financial Services
Genpact
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Orlando Evora ’82
Greenberg Traurig, P.A.
Orlando, Florida

on W. Fuller, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow–Retired
National Association of Independent
Colleges & Universities
Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Alan H. Ginsburg
Chairman
AHG Group
Winter Park, Florida

Carroll Hanley Goggin '85
CFO
DBG Promotions
Winter Park, Florida
carroll@dbgpromotions.com

Rick Goings ’12H
Chairman & CEO
Tupperware Brands Corporation
Orlando, Florida
rickgoings@tupperware.com

Thomas J. Hauske, Jr. ’84
Chairman
Marshall Street Capital, Inc.
Milwaukee, WI
hausket@mscap.com

Kellee M. Johnson '90
Principal
The Ballast Group
Chicaco, Illinois
kjohnson@ballastgroup.com

Susan Whealler Johnston ’75, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President & COO
Association of Governing Boards
of Universities and Colleges
Washington, D.C.
susanj@agb.org

Thomas G. Kuntz ’78
President & CEO–Retired
SunTrust Bank, Florida
Orlando, Florida

Gerald F. Ladner ’81
Vice President / Director of Sales
State Auto Companies
Austin, Texas
gerald.ladner@stateauto.com

David H. Lord ’69 ’71MBA '16H
Business Manager-Retired
Colorado College
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Pat Loret de Mola ’78 ’80MBA
President
Virtus Trade Settlement, LLC                ===
New York, New York

John C. Myers III ’69 ’70MBA
Chairman
Reinhold Corporation
Orange Park, Florida
john@reinholdcorp.com

Michael P. O’Donnell ’78
President, Chairman & CEO
Ruth's Hospitality Group
Winter Park, Florida
modonnell@rhgi.com

Robert B. Ourisman, Sr. ’78
President
Ourisman Automotive
Rockville, Maryland

Dianne Rice ’61 '15H
Private Investor
Jacksonville, Florida

Eric A. Spiegel
Former President & CEO
Siemens USA
Washington, D.C.

Philip Tiedtke
Chairman & CEO
Eastgate Corporation
Winter Park, Florida

Stacy Van Praagh ’93
Principal & Founder
SSVP Fashion Consulting
New York, New York

Erin Wallace ’93MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.
Madison, Wisconsin

Harold A. Ward III ’86H
Winderweedle, Haines, Ward
& Woodman, P.A.
Winter Park, Florida

Victor A. Zollo, Jr. ’73
Founding Partner & Co-CEO
DePrince, Race & Zollo, Inc.
Winter Park, Florida
vzollo@drz-inc.com
DRZ blocking FFA email server.