This discussion is about college, not first grade. College students who want to do homework to learn more are still free to do so. No one is stopping them.
He still assigns homework. He's not grading it. The students that want to try, they're free to do it. If they have questions, there are office hours.
The only thing being removed is the grading, not their homework. If they want to learn, they can.
Except for the person refusing to grade it, of course.