A Hofstra University political science professor has been trapped in a nearly one-year investigatory nightmare after a colleague reported him for racial discrimination for using the phrase “word salad.”
Professor Richard Himelfarb made the remark at a Nov. 3, 2025 faculty meeting about proposed new courses at the private Long Island University.
Santiago Slabodsky, the chair of the school’s Jewish Studies program, sparked an outcry when he proposed two courses — one on conspiracy theories and another tying religion to “revolutionary movements in Latin America” be taught in his department, Himelfarb told The Post.
When five professors objected, Slabodsky allegedly launched into a meandering diatribe where he waxed poetic about his professional accomplishments but didn’t address the professor’s concerns, Himmelfarb said.
After the rant, Himelfarb called out his colleague, saying, “That is complete word salad; I don’t understand a thing Professor Slabodsky said.”
The next day, Slabodsky — who was born in Argentina — filed a complaint against Himelfarb alleging that the use of the term “word salad” disparaged his accent and South American heritage.
“Dr. Richard Himelfarb, who dismissed my detailed explanations by saying that he could not understand ‘the word salad’ of what I was saying, impugning not only my language ability but also my sense and clarity,” Slabodsky wrote in the complaint provided to The Post.
The university’s Human Resources Department Vice President Denise Cunningham told Himelfarb in mid-February there was “reasonable cause” that he had disparaged Slabodsky’s ethnicity, and the probe was launched.
“I wake up every day and this cloud is hovering over me, I spend hours every day responding to emails, talking with lawyers, attending hearings,” Himelfarb said.
Himelfarb offered to apologize, and Slabodsky demanded that he make a public apology, which the political science professor said he was willing to do. But when Slabodsky was shown the text of the mea culpa by Cunningham, he rejected the apology.
The case was kicked up to the University Harassment Board, an ad-hoc committee that would have the power to recommend the university president Dr. Susan Poser fire Himelfarb despite his tenured status, he said.
In May, he retained help from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Foundation, a free speech advocacy organization, and the Academic Freedom Alliance, which is providing him with a lawyer. Slabodsky filed a second complaint after Himelfarb retained outside help in his case, alleging retaliation.
The Catastrophic Politics author said he’s not looking to sue or retaliate and only retained legal counsel after losing faith in the administration’s ability to handle his case appropriately.
Himelfarb told The Post he believes he’s being targeted for being a conservative and said that the point of the probe was intended create a chilling effect to prevent professors from questioning their woke colleagues.
“Would any faculty member want to talk about anything controversial knowing that it’s going to go on and on and on like this,” he asked.
“There has been no disciplinary action taken, and the matter is proceeding in accordance with Hofstra University’s established processes. First Amendment considerations are highly context specific. We have no further comment at this time,” Hofstra University spokesperson Terry Coniglio said.
Slabodsky did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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