I'm not sure how many of you know about this as a national movement, but the corporatization of the public University is a very real and dangerous mission/movement. University presidents with little to no knowledge of academia are being plucked from the business sector and tasked with the mandate to strip schools of "liberal thinking" while focusing more on the vocational aspects of education. In other words, to remove critical thought and encourage a worker-bee mentality. Departments are being gutted, job security is being scaled back, and unscrupulous practices that increase school revenue while decreasing the quality of education for students are being trumpeted as practical and visionary. The concern for basic issues like access, broadening perspectives, critically challenging systems of power, examining the arts, and discussion of race, gender, etc. is actively being discouraged. Corporate giants are in cahoots with government officials, who are dictating to the regents who to hire.
Which is all to say these protests from people like football players are incredibly significant. Because they are the fuel that makes the engine run on the economic vehicles that bring 30-90 million dollars into these college towns. They might be some exploited ass nikkas who aren't necessarily qualified for enrollment, and don't go to classes.... but they have way more power than the smartest kid on any of these campuses, because money talks.