friends of mine

[James Bonde]

As much as I loved teaching at a community college, it was, after all, a community college. Friends of mine at more prestigious institutions, my family, even some of my students, had all prodded me, with various degrees of subtlety, to work on advancing my academic career in philosophy : a path my choices in life had essentially made vanish.（From The Deepest Human Life by Scott Samuelson）

Does "friends of mine at..." mean "some friends..." or "all the friends..."?

Does "institution" here mean "college/university"?

 

[GoesStation]

Does "friends of mine at..." mean "some friends..." or "all the friends..."?

Does "institution" here mean "college/university"?

The whole phrase means "Various friends who work at universities that are better known than the community college I work at".

 

[tedmc]

I wouod take "friends" to mean "some friends", but "not all friends".

 

[emsr2d2]

I would take "friends" to mean "some friends", but no quotation mark here not "all friends".

emsr2d2