The university, for tenure-track professors and others, can become an intellectual prison, an environment where you learn to follow the long-established rules in order to survive. This essay is a call to action, aiming to reach and mobilize learners in the academy who might feel alone and trapped in an institution that primarily rewards conformity. It is also a reflection on my own experience of the academy and the ways in which the Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement opened my mind and set me free.