In this essay, I argue that academic citizenship needs to be focused on civic professionalism. Too often, individualism renders undue costs to the broader academic community. Looking to research in higher education on civic professionalism, I argue that its tenets, which focus on contributing to the community, can allow those of us in academia to realize for ourselves what is needed for our students and future generations. I employ the lens of an ecological framework to illustrate the possibilities and priorities of viewing and implementing academic citizenship as civic professionalism.