Edward Waters University

Good is Everywhere—and we saw it in action at Edward Waters University! 💜🧡

Through VyStar Credit Union Good is Everywhere initiative, VyStar generously sponsored the Edward Waters University Career Closet, helping create a resource that will provide our students with professional attire as they prepare for interviews, internships, career fairs, and future opportunities.

This investment was also made possible through the leadership and support of Lowe Rovette Tomeche Lowe, Chair of the Edward Waters University Alumni Leadership Council, whose advocacy and partnership were instrumental in helping EWU secure this grant. Her efforts are a powerful example of alumni leadership creating opportunities for the next generation of Tigers.

And VyStar’s commitment went far beyond financial support.

The VyStar team was welcomed to campus by our very own Mister EWU THE 17th MISTER EDWARD WATERS UNIVERSITY 👑 before rolling up their sleeves to help build, organize, and set up the Career Closet. Student leaders from our Office of Residential Life and Housing joined the effort, volunteering alongside VyStar to bring the space to life.

Alumni leadership. Corporate investment. Volunteer service. Student engagement. All coming together around one thing: student success.

Thank you, VyStar, Chair Lowe, Chair Dawson and our student leaders for showing us that Good is Everywhere—and good is happening at EWU. 🐅

CareerReadiness StudentSuccess HBCU CommunityPartnership

A Historic Investment. A Transformative Future.

On Thursday, October 8, Edward Waters University will announce a legacy-defining, landmark campus capital project—the most consequential investment in our 160-year history and the first of its kind on our campus in nearly half a century.

This historic moment represents more than an investment in our campus. It is an investment in our students, our community, and the future of Florida’s first Historically Black College or University.

Join us at 1:00 p.m. in Milne Auditorium, located in the Lee Cousins Administration Building, 1658 Kings Road, as we welcome leadership from the United States Department of Education, members of our Board of Trustees, alumni, students, community partners, and invited elected officials from across Jacksonville and the State of Florida.

160 years of history have brought us to this moment. Now, we build what’s next.

Save the date.

🏈🐅 Tiger Nation, we’re taking you inside the program!

The first episode of The Brian Jenkins Show: Edward Waters Football is here!

Hear directly from Head Coach Brian Jenkins and get an inside look at EWU Football, our student-athletes, and the energy surrounding the Tigers this season.

🎥 Watch Episode 1 now and get closer to the action, the preparation, and the pride behind Edward Waters Football.

🧡💜 Tiger Nation, tap in and share!

The Brian Jenkins Show: Edward Waters Football (S1, E1) | HBCUGameDay.com "🏈 THE BRIAN JENKINS SHOW | EDWARD WATERS UNIVERSITY Welcome to ano...

Never late. Always on time. 😉🐯

Okay…maybe we’re a few weeks into the journey, but we couldn’t let this one go uncelebrated!

Join us in congratulating Dr. Jame’l Hodges, Vice President for Student Success & Engagement, on his selection to the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2027! 🎉

Dr. Hodges leads with purpose, advocates fiercely for students, and continues to make an impact both on our campus and throughout the Jacksonville community.

Leadership isn’t just about having a seat at the table—it’s about what you bring to it.

And we know Dr. Hodges is bringing that Tiger spirit. 🐯💜🧡

Congratulations, Dr. Hodges! Tiger Nation is cheering you on!

StudentSuccess EWUTigers

It is with an unimaginably heavy heart that I share the passing of Dr. Jennifer M. Price, who served as our Vice President for Enrollment Management and Strategic Matriculant Services from 2019 until 2025. She passed away from this life on the morning of Tuesday, September 8, 2026.

When Dr. Price arrived to then Edward Waters College we enrolled approximately 900 students. We were reinvigorating the College's brand and trajectory, and what we needed was an enrollment leader who could convert that into sustained growth rather than a single good year. She delivered, again, and again, and again. She took us from that number to a trajectory that has carried this institution to nearly 1,300 today.

We do not achieve the transformation from Edward Waters College to Edward Waters University without Dr. Price.

She was the longest and amongst the most loyal serving members of my executive cabinet. When she arrived, she told me that she would always have my back, and across nearly seven years she never gave me a single reason to doubt it.

But the numbers are not what I admired about her the most.

Dr. Price recruited young people to this University when they were eighteen and nineteen years old, and then she would not let go of them. She saw what they could become before they could see it themselves. She believed in it out loud. She cultivated it and she watched it blossom. Four of the students who earned their degrees here during her tenure are today enrollment management professionals at Edward Waters, doing for other people's children exactly what she did for them. Te'Anna Austin, our Executive Director of Enrollment Management. Rwiti Choudhury, our Assistant Director of Financial Aid. Moshonda Durosier, our Senior Admissions Recruiter. Cortland Faison, our Admissions Recruiter. Every one of them holds a master's degree earned at this institution. Ms. Durosier holds two.

That is the REAL work. Everything else is just a number.

She began her own career as a student worker in an admissions office, earned her master's degree at Bowie State University, one of our nation's HBCUs, and gave the culminating years of her career to HBCUs and to the students we serve. Most recently she served as Vice President of Enrollment Management at Clinton College in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She described her philosophy simply. There is no I, only we.

And I will miss her. Not the enrollment reports or the strategy sessions. Her. She never forgot my birthday, not once, and she never marked it with anything generic. It was always something she had chosen because she knew me. She also knew how to manage me. Anyone who has worked closely with me understands the intensity I bring to this office, and Dr. Price handled it with a deftness I have rarely encountered in anyone, knowing when to absorb it, when to push back, and when to let it pass. By the time she left Edward Waters, we did not end a telephone call without telling each other that we loved one another. I did not know then how much I would come to treasure that.

On behalf of the entire Edward Waters University family, I extend my deepest condolences and my prayers to her family, and I thank them for sharing her with us.

We love you, Dr. Price. Rest in paradise. 💜🧡💜🧡

"I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." John 17:4

Forever a part of the Edward Waters University family,

A. Zachary Faison, Jr., Ed.D., J.D.
President & Chief Executive Officer
Edward Waters University

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT. HISTORIC MOMENT. 🐅🧡💜

Edward Waters University is making national headlines!

Inside Higher Ed has highlighted EWU among institutions experiencing significant enrollment success in 2026.

This fall, 1,281 students chose Edward Waters University—our highest enrollment in over two decades.

This milestone reflects the confidence students and families continue to place in EWU and the collective commitment of our faculty, staff, alumni, partners and supporters to advancing our mission.

The nation is taking notice. Tiger Nation already knows.

And we’re just getting started. 🐅

Read more at: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/2026/09/11/institutions-see-record-enrollments-big-turnarounds-2026?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a16a495c02-WNU_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a16a495c02-712301128&mc_cid=a16a495c02&mc_eid=465a55fe0e

Today, we pause to remember. 🇺🇸

On this September 11, Edward Waters University honors the lives lost, the families forever changed, and the brave first responders who answered the call with courage and sacrifice. We remember their strength, their service, and their stories.

Edward Waters University proudly celebrates Prabir Mandal, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, on his selection as a 2026–2027 Henry C. McBay Faculty Research Fellow by UNCF. 🐯

Through this prestigious fellowship, Dr. Mandal will advance research exploring the responsible use of generative AI in undergraduate genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics education, creating new opportunities for students to engage in meaningful research experiences.

Congratulations, Dr. Mandal, on this well-deserved recognition of your scholarship, innovation, and commitment to preparing the next generation of scientists! 👏🏾

This is Eminence in action.

Click the image to read more:

EWU Biology Professor Dr. Prabir Mandal Named UNCF Henry C. McBay Research Fellow | Edward Waters University Prestigious National Fellowship Advances Faculty Research, Undergraduate Mentorship, and Innovation in Biology Education JACKSONVILLE, FL — Edward Waters University (EWU) is proud to announce that Dr. Prabir Mandal, Professor of Biology, has been named a 2026–2027 Henry C. McBay Faculty Research...

Edward Waters University proudly celebrates Prabir Mandal, Ph.D., Professor of Biology, on his selection as a 2026–2027 Henry C. McBay Faculty Research Fellow by UNCF.

Through this prestigious fellowship, Dr. Mandal will advance research exploring the responsible use of generative AI in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics education, creating new opportunities for students to engage in meaningful undergraduate research.

This national recognition reflects the caliber of scholarship, innovation, and mentorship taking place at EWU every day.

The future of research is being shaped at Edward Waters University.

Click the image to read more:

Edward Waters University Faculty Member Selected As Henry C. McBay Faculty Research Fellow | Edward Waters University Prestigious National Fellowship Advances Faculty Research, Undergraduate Mentorship, and Innovation In Biology Education JACKSONVILLE, FL — Edward Waters University (EWU) is proud to announce that Dr. Prabir Mandal, Professor of Biology, has been named a 2026–2027 Henry C. McBay Faculty Research...