You still haven’t told me what they should have done to actually achieve their goals.

You’ve told me they should have politely protested but the university didn’t have to listen to them. Looks like the university is listening now.

So, again, what should they have done to actually achieve their goals?

Don’t tell me what you wanted them to do or what you don’t like them doing. Tell me how they should have gone about it in order to have a good chance of success.