As you’ve heard by now, there is a small pack of activists holed up in the Social Sciences Building on the West Bank protesting … something. Their list of demands lacks focus and the whole event reeks of the classic college syndrome of protesting for protesting’s sake.

This group is not serious about seeing their demands met; they’re there to gain a few headlines and hang out with their friends in a venue other than their dorm room. They have a “fun committee.” They had a movie night. Their biggest claim to fame is the pizzas they’ve had delivered, a selling point they’re quick to point out on their blog.

Worse yet, these kids are quick to cave to the authority they claim to be fighting. On Monday evening, when police said only 12 of their few dozen activists could stay the night, they took the bold, principled fight-the-power approach of … agreeing to the officers’ demands.

We’re obviously not advocating for violent action, but other, more grizzled, more principled activists may have taken a slightly different approach.

To be fair, we’re glad this group has at least tried to stand up for their convictions, and we hope others will follow suit. But this campus has a proud history of student protests and building occupations. This latest sit-in is nothing more than a silly, embarrassing shadow of days gone by.