Yeah, sometimes the things "advocates" say and do make me question their motivations.
This is going off-topic a lot but I just wanted to mention the topic of virtue signalling,.. And I was especially reminded of this with all the college protests about the events in Gaza. I don't believe ALL of those people illegally staying on campuses truly care about the Palestinians as much as they claim. They have a variety of motives.
Some of the college protesters no doubt are guys looking to hook up with other protesters by pretending to care with them. There's always some. Pretending to care about a particular woman's interests to get close to her is one of the oldest tricks in the book, so much so that the idea is in movies + television programs
I dated a young woman while a student at Davis who was one of those demanding UCD stop doing business with a particular entity. I told her plainly I thought the protest was stupid and why. She either didn't care or respected me for not kissing up to her + never mentioned protests again.
Some of the protesters are using anti-Israel sentiment as an opportunity to spew anti-semitic ideas they already had because they are anti-semites. Objectively no one in the U.S. who enjoys being alive should be anti-Israel. Against the killing of Gazans but not anti-Israel. Israel keeps tabs on terror groups in the Middle East to help deter terrorists- terrorists who want to kill us. We don't live in an impenetrable bubble, especially not with previously wide open borders.
Some people just love to rhetorically defend others when they know little to nothing about what's going on because caring sells.
And still others just use the situation as an excuse to break the law.
And I hate to say it but a lot of college students are just ignorant. They do some wonderful things with what they learn in classes, but when it comes to the world around them they often have completely wrong or overly simplistic views of things. This shows in how they think they have the right to tell their universities what to do with their investments. Universities actually are the ones investing in the students they admit. Tuition doesn't even come close to covering the costs of what resources students are given access to. Instead of being grateful for their opportunities many act like spoiled brats. Camp out in the quad and ditch classes ? Sure, not like the quad serves any other purpose, and mom and dad can just shell out for an extra semester/quarter to make up for classes flunked.
And I read about how work-study participants at Pomona College went on strike from their tour-giving responsibilities. What a racket-getting paid to walk around talking in places they already walk and talk anyway. No tours ? Oh no ! What will visiting families do ? It isn't as if visitors could just download a campus map, right ? They don't realize how little leverage they really have.
And so I really have to wonder how much those who hold themselves as advocates really care.