While the loudest voices grab headlines with megaphones and paint, the real students—the ones actually earning degrees—are buried in books, not banner slogans.
🎓 Protests, Placards & Performance Politics vs. Real Education
Connie Shaw raises the blunt but overdue question:
Why are student unions and protest lines dominated by loud, left-leaning activists, while right-leaning, freedom-valuing students are barely visible?
Answer: Because the serious students are actually working.
You know—doing the thing they came to university for.
- Writing dissertations, not slogans.
- Preparing presentations, not picketing buildings.
- Chasing deadlines, not clout.
It’s not that right-leaning or independent-minded students don’t exist. It’s that they’re too busy learning to spend three days gluing themselves to the dean’s office over the coffee policy.
And let’s be honest—if you’re juggling a double major, a part-time job, and mounting debt, the last thing you have time for is another self-congratulatory “emergency solidarity assembly.”
Meanwhile, many campus activists treat university like a four-year theatre production where identity, outrage, and public shaming are the main acts. Their degrees? Sometimes incidental. Their protests? Full-time.
It’s no surprise that these same circles dominate student elections and union roles. They’ve got the time. They’ve got the networks. And often, they’ve got the ideological monopoly.
The freedom-loving students? They’re in the library, in the lab, or quietly wondering when education became groupthink cosplay with tuition fees.
🧠 Campus Doesn’t Speak for Everyone—Just the Loudest
It’s a myth that young people are universally progressive. What’s true is that the ones with the loudest platforms and the most free time set the tone—and the rules. Dissenting views? They’re often shut down, sidelined, or smothered in a passive-aggressive wellness email.
Let’s not confuse the volume of a voice with the number of minds behind it.
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Challenges
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Are we mistaking activism for academia? Should student unions reflect real students—or just the most performative? If you’re a student—or were one—who stayed quiet just to graduate in peace, your voice matters now more than ever. Drop your truth in the blog comments 💬🧠
👇 Comment, share, and tag a student who’s probably studying right now while someone else “represents” them.
📝 The most grounded takes will be featured in the next issue of the magazine—no protest required.
Chameleon Magazine 
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