Jacksonville, FL – June 4, 2020 – A specially scheduled Stay Woke: The Edward Waters College (EWC) President’s Distinguished Speaker Series will be streamed live via Zoom and broadcasted via Facebook on Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. This iteration of the speaker series will feature a panel of Jacksonville area African-American leaders and influencers that will share their reactions and perspectives related to the recent local, national, and international unrest that has resulted from the killing of unarmed and largely African-American males in our country. Even more, the panel participants will look to share their insights and explore solutions and potential strategic actions that individuals and community organizations can take towards seeking to create and advance public policy that will promote equitable quality of life outcomes for all of Jacksonville’s citizens and especially its communities of color.       

The conversation will be hosted by Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr., President and CEO of Edward Waters College, and moderated by Jacksonville native Ms. Dawn Lopez, co-anchor of Action News This Morning and Action News Jax at Noon CBS/47 FOX/30.

“Edward Waters College has a long and storied history as one of Jacksonville’s most prominent proverbial public squares where the academy and the community coalesce to engage the socio-political issues of our day in support of the conceptualization, development, and implementation of meaningful active solutions for the citizens and communities in which we serve and live,” says Dr. A. Zachary Faison Jr., President of Edward Waters College. “EWC is taking initiative, creating a platform, and giving an opportunity for genuine change to take place here in our Jacksonville community.”

The speaker series is a student and campus-wide academic and experiential engagement initiative intended to present a robust and varied collection of distinguished and scholarly speakers to the EWC campus community. This initiative, started in 2018, seeks to engage the views, ideas, and espoused ideals expressed by international, national, and local thought leaders, authors, entertainers, activists, advocates, athletes, educators, business leaders, and opinion shapers who will be featured as a part of the series.

The panelist for the conversation will include: Senior Bishop of the 11th District of the A.M.E. Church, Presiding Prelate Bishop Adam J.  Richardson, Jr.; Dr. Nathaniel Glover ‘66, EWC President Emeritus, retired Jacksonville Sherriff; Award-Winning Author Dr. Tommy J. Curry, Professor of Psychology & Personal Chair of Africana Philosophy and Black Male Studies at the University of Edinburgh (UK); Mr. Sam Newby ‘84, Vice President Jacksonville City Council, Designee; Dr. Charles E. Moreland ‘03, Director of Community & International Affairs Office of Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry; Dr. Richard Danford, President, Jacksonville Urban League; Mr. Rodney Hurst, Author/Historian; Mr. Darnell Smith, President-North Florida Region of Florida Blue; Mr. Mandrake T. Miller, EWC Vice President for Student Success & Engagement; Dr. Kenneth Davis, EWC Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice; Mr. Naim Brown, President of the NAACP Edward Waters College Chapter; Mr. Chauncey Whaley, Vice President, NAACP Edward Waters College Chapter.

 “At EWC, we encourage intellectual dialogue around issues facing the whole of our society and particularly those that impact the African-American community given our historic mission and founding as the State of Florida’s first independent institution of higher education and Florida’s first college or university established for the purpose of educating African-Americans” said President Faison. “The speaker series supports our institutional vision which emphatically denotes our ‘Emerging Eminence’ as we continue our work towards preparing students to be pioneering leaders, insatiable learners, critical thinkers, and agents for positive change in every sector of our increasingly expanding society and world.”

The series will be broadcasted on facebook.com/ewctigers and will begin Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.

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About Edward Waters College

Edward Waters College (EWC), accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), is a private, historically black, urban college which offers a liberal arts education with a strong emphasis on the Christian principles of high moral and spiritual values. EWC was established in 1866 and is an African Methodist Episcopal Church-related institution of learning. It is the first private institution of higher education in the State of Florida.