From the set list to the visual choreography to Lamar’s verbal quips, the performance used the setting of a uniquely American stage to deliver a heady warning to the American public about the political state of the nation.

It’s a dilemma as old as academia itself: When speaking out is risky but silence feels like complicity, what role do faculty play? Universities exist to challenge ideas and prepare the next generation, but in a polarized era, I ask myself: How can my professors not talk about politics when their voices have never mattered more? 

According to Columbia Professor Jonathon Crary, work culture is degrading our ability to recover and rest. Photo by Merielen Espino/The...