I was a undergrad senior at Caltech during that time, and as luck would have it, I was taking an art history course. Caltech humanities courses tended to have visiting professors that would come for a single night a week. I mentioned to my professor that I did not think Serra's piece should be considered art and it turned into a debate that spanned several weeks. At first, I was worried I was taking a harsh stance but the professor was so excited that Caltech students took an interest in art and we happily debated for a while. I told her I hated Serra's Tilted Arc but conceded I did like his Sea Level and The Matter of Time.

While I was not one of the students that put up Eigenvectors, I would have gladly helped if I realized they were doing it. I argued to my professor that Eigenvectors was art because it stood for something and my professor could not have been happier about the situation.

Another protest piece that occurred was dumping a bunch of indoor and outdoor furniture on the very lawn that was going to host Vectors and then placing a sign on it that read something along the lines of "Invoice: Qty 1 art installation. Price: $1,000,000" in protest of the amount Caltech was going to pay Serra.

If I recall, while the students won, Caltech never admitted it was due to the outcry. The official statement argued that a geological report of the area deemed it unsuitable for such a heavy art piece.

I just looked online and it looks like they ripped up the entire lawn in a last few years to create another building and parking lot.