Why did many student activists reject the French Communist Party during May 1968?

During the events of May 1968, student activists largely rejected the French Communist Party (PCF) because they viewed the party as an outdated, authoritarian institution that had abandoned the goal of revolutionary change in favor of a limited role within the existing political order.1

The reasons for this rejection included:

• Ideological Divergence: Students were influenced by "Third Worldism" and figures like Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh, and Mao Zedong, finding little appeal in the PCF’s orthodox [Marxism].2
• Opposition to the Movement: The PCF initially derided and opposed the student protesters, preferring to negotiate the Grenelle Accords for wage increases rather than supporting the students' calls for radical social and cultural transformation.1
• Critique of Orthodoxy: Activists sought a "third way" that transcended the PCF’s narrow, workplace-focused economic orientation. They were interested in the critique of "everyday life," which addressed broader issues like feminism, ecology, and social control, which the PCF’s rigid, centralized structure failed to address.34