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Jacksonville mayor proposes $8.4M for Edward Waters College

Two of Jacksonville’s leaders are pushing for a major investment that will boost a local college, and they say it will also create a safer city.

Edward Waters College President Nat Glover and Mayor Lenny Curry announced a proposed $8.4 million dollars for EWC. Curry is budgeting the money under the “Safe Neighborhood” initiative in his budget.

"This is about investing in an institution and neighborhood that has literally stepped up and has created a beacon of light. And we need to support that,” Curry said.

Glover said if you invest in students now, they will be taxpaying, revenue-producing citizens in the future. If not, just the opposite.

“That price tag will be 10 times as much. All the way up from unemployment to the prison system,” Glover said.

The mayor will present the budget to City Council July 17.