Most of us can fondly look back on our college days and remember feeling intellectually invigorated and rebellious, hoping to use time between classes to protest against any institution that stepped in our way. Whether sweatshops or affirmative action, there was always something to rage against. Students in a number of District-based universities are carrying on that fine tradition, and in big ways.

Early last year a group of Georgetown University students launched a hunger strike to demand living wages for the university’s custodial staff, eventually spending nine days without food and attracting widespread attention until administration officials caved to their demands. Later that year, students at American University rebelled against President Benjamin Ladner when news surfaced that he’d very liberally charged over $500,000 in personal and travel expenses to the university. Ladner was eventually fired, though his hefty severance has provoked a Senate investigation. This year students at Gallaudet University rose up against the appointment of the university’s new president, Jane Fernandes, and according a Post report today, defied guesses that the summer would dampen their anger and have taken over a classroom building.

Is there anything new or particularly surprising about these protests? Not really. College students often go through these phases. But the protests at American and Gallaudet are significant because they deal directly with issues of university governance, not larger gripes that extend beyond the bounds of the campus. The students at American — a small though dedicated group of them — made their point powerfully and persistently enough that dismissing Ladner remained the only possible option. More importantly, many of the students leading the crusade against Ladner invoked larger societal themes — transparency in governance, accountability for wrong-doing, and pushing institutions to do exactly what they expect everyone in their charge to do. The Gallaudet protests are more complicated because they deal with deeper identity issues in the deaf community, though they also invoke openness in decision-making as a rallying cry.

Of course, many students, myself included, often grow out of those rebellious college days. That doesn’t mean lessons aren’t learned, though. The best that we can hope for is that the students leading these protests emerge wiser as to the ways of power and influence. Maybe, just maybe, they can apply what they learned on campus to what’s happening beyond the Ivory Tower. Heck, we know a certain institution in Washington that could use a little lesson on accountability, transparency, and honesty.