I could not get past the paywall, and have not read the article so I will refrain from commenting other that to say this. Academic freedom is seen by most as an essential freedom. This is the reason for tenure, to guard professors from reprisals for what the research and teach. Throughout history one of the first things a totalitarian regime does is suppress freedoms. Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech. And they start at the universities. history is rife with examples, Russia in the 1920s, Germany in the 1930s, Iran and Ron DeSantis today. I am not saying BYU, which is my alma mater is anywhere close to this. It is not. But I do know by most standards it is a real stretch to say academic freedom is practiced there. In 1998 BYU was censured by The American Association of University Professors for violations of academic freedom. In the past twenty five years it has done nothing to address this. Tenure, or what BYU calls continuing status is not the protection it was meant to be at any church run schools. There is a long list of professors who have been pushed out, often for no other reason than a social media post supporting LGBTQ rights. These things have been noted by the press and by the academic community, and it hurts the reputation of the school. I am disturbed by this. And it seems that this is becoming more of a trend.