The system of tenure was developed 60 years ago to protect intellectual freedom. Until the creation of a tenure system, professors could be and were indeed dismissed for holding opinions that were considered uncongenial to college officials or a college's powerful constituents. Tenure systems were designed to protect freedom of thought and speech. A sense of ownership improves job performance. Professors must be encouraged to pursue truth even if truth is painful to others.
Censorship can destroy intellectual inquiry, and dull the life of the mind.
Throughout this century, professors in a number of countries have been dismissed or imprisoned for arguing points of views that were at odds with prevailing ideologies. In our country, free speech is less threatened by external forces or government action than by institutional censorship and self-censorship. De Tocqueville thought the greatest threat to democracy in America would be self-censorship. We should work diligently to prove him wrong. For many of these professors, conformity is not a matter of comfort, but rather is the means to economic and professional survival.