Let us consider the first pillar, academic freedom. I too support academic freedom but wonder why it is the exclusive domain of tenured university professors. Academic freedom belongs in the hands of the students. And not only in the hands of students - enshrined not only in the American Bill of Rights, but in constitutions around the world, are freedoms of expression, the press, and of religion, among others. Not so in a university classroom.
Students have little or no protection against the overwhelming weight of their professors' opinions.
And while some enlightened teachers of wisdom and reason allow students their own foibles, the vast majority direct the masses with the unremitting hand of the conductor. Perley and Tanguay don't say it in so many words, but they might as well have. Assuming for the moment that this is true, we must observe that while sometimes the professors' powers to alter course materials may be used for good, in other cases it may be used for evil. Granting professors unimpeded control over course content may allow them to respond to student requirements or adapt to students' backgrounds. But it also allows them to read in monotone directly from the text, offer thirty-nine movies in a semester, or to blithely unsubstantiated theories, hypotheses and rumors.