You bet you can, and thanks for asking.
This one's a bit dated, but good enough: A few years back Columbia students held a sit in at administration offices to demand increased appointments of minority faculty and the establishment of an ethnic studies curriculum. Several large and spirited demonstrations by undergrads were organized in support of these "academic" objectives.
At almost the exact same time, the union representing food service workers staged a walk out protesting the increased subcontracting of positions to non-union firms and reductions in wages and health benefits. There were several demonstration arranged by the union in front of Lowe Library to protest the university's abuse of its mostly black and latino workforce. How many students do you think were involved in the demonstrations? Of 75 to 100 demonstrators, no more than three were students. The demonstrators, the burger flippers, the cashiers, and the salad washers we saw every day, got essentially zero support from campus radicals many of whom do indeed view a victory in the institutional structure of the academy as a something to invest significant organizing capital in.
In any case, here is a clear case where the attempt to achieve an "academic victory" was demonstrably a higher priority over a real victory-one that would have return tangible benefits to one small fraction of the victims of the new economy.
I can give you similar stories from up here at Yale and I would even be willing to send anyone who's interested a 65 manuscript which touches on some of these issues.
You want more examples? Just ask. I got em.
Best,
John