"Whatever I can give, I give. And as I can give more, I give more."
With Sewanee’s sweeping overlooks, hidden trails, and perennial fog, it’s easy to imagine the Domain as the setting for a fairytale—one in which the enterprising heroine finds a magical path and fulfills her destiny. This bit of whimsy isn’t so farfetched for Amber Singleton Camiul, C’11. “I always say that at Sewanee I could do and be anything I wanted to be,” she shares. As Camiul describes, Sewanee not only prepared her for a rewarding career in business and finance, but it has also enabled her to live on four continents. During one of her stints abroad, she met her husband, Jean-Sebastien. “All of my Sewanee experiences made me who I am today,” she says. “I could not be more thankful.”
Growing up in Chattanooga, Camiul notes, her family’s finances were tight. As a rising high school senior, she was admitted to Sewanee’s Summer Bridge Program in Math and Science, a four-week, all-expenses-paid program created by Eric Benjamin, C’73, Sewanee’s former Director of Multicultural Affairs, who passed away earlier this year. “Mr. Benjamin was very special to me,” Camiul says, adding that she had a “wonderful experience” studying with faculty—particularly with Associate Professor of Mathematics Doug Drinen. After several return trips to the Mountain, Camiul applied for college enrollment and received full, four-year tuition through the Chancellor’s Scholarship. “Without the scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to come to Sewanee,” she notes. “Ultimately, I fell in love with Sewanee, and I felt that Sewanee loved me back.”
As a student, Camiul majored in economics and international studies, and she engaged in a full slate of co-curricular activities, from directing the Sewanee Praise Gospel Choir to serving on the Multicultural Outreach Board and leading campus tours as an Arcadian. She also led a spring break trip to Louisiana, tutoring students as part of a service internship with All Saints’ Chapel, and she volunteered with Housing Sewanee, a local nonprofit that constructs homes for low-income families. “When I was growing up, my parents instilled in me that I could achieve goals,” Camiul says, “but, at the same time, I didn’t always have the financial means to do everything I wanted to do.” In contrast, she says that at Sewanee, “my potential was high, and finances weren’t in question. So, I really had the ability to do anything.”
in French Guiana.
If Sewanee were the backdrop of a fairytale, this would be the point where the heroine hops on a flying carpet and discovers new worlds. In Camiul’s case, Sewanee’s funding from the Lily Endowment, Inc., gave her the opportunity to travel to Togo in West Africa during the summer of her freshman year. For six weeks, she worked with a nonprofit organization providing food, toiletries, medicine, and other basic necessities to indigent residents. In her junior year, Camiul studied abroad in Paris, where she met Jean-Sebastien while attending church. She notes that she and her husband primarily speak French at home, although she is also semi-proficient in Spanish, thanks to Sewanee coursework.
With Europe, North America, and Africa checked off her list, Camiul was eager to explore another continent—and in her senior year, one of her Sewanee advisors encouraged her to apply to the Fulbright Scholar Program. “The thought of applying had never crossed my mind,” she says, “but I have been studying French since I was 10 years old. I love the Francophone world. At the same time, I have a strong desire to support people who suffer from homelessness. I wanted to see if I could bridge those two things—my passion for French and my concern for the issue of homelessness.” Camiul harnessed the skills she’d gained through her Economics major to propose a project focused on understanding substandard housing conditions in French Guiana, a French nation on the northeast coast of South America. “I later found out that I was the first Fulbright applicant to want to travel to a French overseas department,” she says. Her proposal was successful, and Camiul became Sewanee’s second African-American Fulbright Scholar, following Charita LeQuisse Roque, C’07.
Rob Pearigen, C'76, at a Trustee meeting in 2023
Camiul’s graduation from Sewanee wasn’t so much a “happily ever after” as a “to be continued.” The summer after her senior year, Sewanee’s Babson Center for Global Commerce sponsored her participation in the Tuck Business Bridge Program at Dartmouth College, where Camiul refined her accounting, public speaking, and data management skills. In 2021, she was elected as one of Sewanee’s at-large Trustees—a position she describes as “a true honor.” Reflecting on Camiul’s time as a Trustee, the Rev. Casey Perkins, T’22, Director of Trustee Relations, says, “Amber sets a high standard for Trustee involvement in the University, with her long history of giving back to Sewanee and her clear passion for every part of campus life. We’re privileged to benefit from her strong commitment to service.”
Camiul has kept the Mountain close by regularly supporting the University’s most pressing needs, as well as Sewanee’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). “I’d say that no gift is too small,” she says, noting that she began giving to Sewanee while she was still a student. “Whatever I can give, I give. And as I can give more, I give more.” Camiul says this philosophy of giving runs deep in her family. “Like I said, my family didn’t have much when I was young,” she explains, “but my mom was very philanthropic—what she did have, she’d give back. My grandmother was also that way. If 20 people showed up to church and didn’t have a place to eat, she’d invite them to her home.”
Camiul’s promotion of DEI programming goes beyond her relationship with the University. “As a black woman walking through life, [DEI] matters. As a woman walking through life, it matters. It matters tremendously,” she says. She describes her belief in the value of DEI as a combination of personal experiences, research, and listening to others’ stories. “I think it’s important to hear people’s stories. The more stories you hear, the more commonalities you hear,” she shares. In her current role as Sales Compensation Manager for AT&T Inc. in Atlanta, Camiul participates in multiple corporate programs centered on building cross-cultural connections. Through her church, Revision Church Atlanta, she also writes and co-hosts a monthly YouTube webcast called The SHIFT, which covers DEI issues.
Camiul cites the Bible as influential in both her philanthropic outreach and her investment in hearing and supporting marginalized voices. “In the Bible, Jesus says, ‘Whatever you do to the least of these, you do for me,’” she notes. She has also been inspired by the book Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by psychologist, administrator, and educator Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D. “When I read that book, it helped me understand that we need to create more belonging—more places where people feel like part of a group,” she says. “As an economist, I’m all about data. I also make it a point to listen and learn about diverse communities. And that’s what makes me want to do more for DEI.”
