Purdue Black Graduate Student Association Banquet keynote speaker:
Amber Neal-Stanley

One of the College of Education’s faculty members gave the keynote at the recent Purdue Black Graduate Student Association Awards and Recognition Banquet (April 19).

The theme was “Power in Community.” Amber Neal-Stanley, assistant professor of curriculum studies in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, spoke on “(Re)membering the ecology of the self,” a reflection of her personal and professional journey.

“My path began with a leap of faith—moving to Houston through Teach for America—which set the foundation for a teaching practice deeply rooted in spirituality,” Neal-Stanley said. “My faith shaped how I showed up for my students, created community, and approached education as a space of healing and dignity.”

But when she entered academia, Neal-Stanley was met with the expectation to fragment herself and  leave her spiritual, cultural, and embodied ways of knowing at the door in favor of objectivity and neutrality.

“That demand was painful and deeply disorienting,” she said. “I found guidance and grounding in the womanist wisdom of thinkers like bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and Toni Morrison, who reminded me that embracing wholeness is not only possible, but necessary.”

Neal-Stanley then began to believe that integrating mind, body, and spirit is a radical, decolonial act—one that challenges the systems designed to dismember people.

“Through reconnecting with ancestral knowledge, listening to my body, and reclaiming my spirit, I’m learning to live and lead from a place of wholeness,” Neal-Stanley said. “And I encourage others—especially those navigating spaces that don’t honor all of who you are—to do the same.”

She appreciated the opportunity to speak at the banquet.

“The Black Graduate Student Association’s Annual Awards and Recognition Banquet is a powerful and affirming celebration of history, excellence, and community, honoring the progress and achievements of Black graduate students whose very presence and brilliance enrich the entire campus,” she said. “It serves as a critical space of love, visibility, and joy in the journey toward academic fulfillment and communal flourishing.”

Source: Amber Neal-Stanley, neal123@purdue.edu