In order to be an "inmate", you have to first commit a serious crime. Then you have to be locked up. SFT is a wannabe warden who can not lockup individual thought or action. He's taken shared governance hostage when it was not his right to do so. The author of this poor excuse of a letter is obviously a Stepford Shelbyite.
The SFT stooges-supporters-cohorts are working the PR campaign! Remember many of them have no respect for education beyond the football team, so a popular phrase might sound appealing.
Well, this letter really shows the way Shelby's supporters imagine the purpose of a university. The analogy is a lot more revealing than the writer probably intended.