Left unsaid is the labor practices of academia. I went into graduate school because it was predicted there was a growing need for college professors for the rapidly expanding undergraduate population. But, instead, they increased the teaching load for poorly paid/unpaid graduate students and hired adjuncts at poverty level wages across the the system. Now, more than 70% of classes are taught by graduate students/adjuncts for poverty wages. At the same time, acceding to demands from feminist and minorities, tenure track positions were illegally used to increase diversity to the professorate. When I was looking for a job (1990s), I was usually the only finalist that was a male, and was never offered a tenure track position. I labored as a visiting professor for several years attempting to get that elusive tenure track job. I was personally told by those there and observed myself several times this illegal hiring practice in action. Finally, I went out to the private world and almost doubled my salary the first year.
Meanwhile the size of the administration at universities doubled. Much of this administration went toward its non-core academic functions.
Recent strikes at the UCal system and New College are only a continuation of what we have seen for years. But, no one has taken on the mismanagement and poverty of wages for those doing the actual teaching.
At this point, I recognize that going out to the private world was the best move I made as colleges have ceased to be innovative and more about enforcing ideology. Whether its your ideology or not, everyone should be concerned with the state of those systems.