Edward Waters University welcomes readers and stakeholders to the inaugural issue of the HBCU Journal of Research Initiatives. It began with a critical mission to give a voice to underrepresented scholars in academia. As the state of Florida’s first historically Black college or university (HBCU), we take pride in our legacy and history, as well as our commitment to supporting our and other HBCU faculty in their pursuit of critical inquiry, even in the face of many obstacles. Since our transformation from Edward Waters College to Edward Waters University in 2021, we have been dedicated to upholding our commitment to “Emerging Eminence,” with a strong emphasis on intellectually stimulating, community-engaging research. In pursuit of this goal, we established the HBCU Journal of Research Initiatives to provide assistance to HBCU scholars and offer them a venue to showcase their research projects.
This year, Edward Waters University adds a new dimension to our research environment along with the launching of the HBCU Journal of Research Initiatives. It aims to succeed in the legacy of our previous journal, The Edward Waters College Research Journal, which unfortunately ceased publication during the Covid-19 global pandemic along with many other journals for HBCU research. Our journal also did not come without difficulties: As an in-house journal of a small private HBCU, we faced a wide range of challenges throughout the process, such as a lack of funding, a shortage of labor, and a long delay. We particularly appreciate the incredible patience and continued support from our authors, supporters, and editorial board who brought our journal to fruition. Our message is simple—underprivileged, marginalized, struggling HBCU scholars will continue to strive for excellence despite challenges and systemic inequality in their everyday lives. As our beginning seems humble, so prosperous will our future be (Job 8:7).
This inaugural issue consists of seven research articles from various fields both within and outside of Edward Waters University. David Jamison’s “Guyana’s 1763 Berbice Slave Rebellion Re-Examined: A Month-by-Month Accounting From Neighboring Colonies” provides a detailed chronological analysis of Guyana’s 1763 Berbice Rebellion. Jamison, using his own translation of Dutch sources, examines how enslaved individuals exploited societal divisions to create opportunities for escape. “Demystifying Cryptocurrency: Challenges and Rewards” by Seong No Yoon, Robert Tedeschi, and Felicia Wider-Lewis recounts their experience of arranging a FinTech workshop at Edward Waters University to generate recommendations for providing FinTech education to disadvantaged students. Christian Bowers, in “Comparing the Wald Method to Bootstrapping for a Population Proportion and Why Resampling Methods Belong in Elementary Statistics Courses,” compares the efficacy of the bootstrap percentile method and the Wald method in constructing confidence intervals for estimating a population proportion. Abdul Sharif and Brandon Armstrong, in their study titled, “Measuring Up? An Exploration of Black Voter Candidate Preferences,” investigates the behavior of Black voters in Florida about the impact of a candidate’s race on their decision-making process. Patrice McDaniel’s study titled, “Medical School Student Perception of Their Competence in Providing Counseling About Unhealthy Behavior,” explores the perceptions held by fourth-year medical students regarding their ability as lifestyle medicine (LM) counselors. Merlin R. Langley, Kenisha M. Thomas, and Jacquelyn D. McMillan in “Social ISMS: Utilizing Social Work Student Perspectives to Shape Pedagogy at an HBCU,” assess the educational achievements of graduate social work students by examining their awareness of various isms (racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, and ethnocentrism) and how these isms impact their professional identities and inclination to engage in social justice. “Challenges of Cloud Computing: Selected Qualitative Narrative Review and Ethical Analysis Studies,” authored by Petero Kwizera, focuses on the ethical concerns associated with cloud computing and creates more awareness about desirable considerations in service level agreements (SLA) among cloud computing service providers and their clients.
We express our gratitude for the continued support provided by Edward Waters University, especially from our CEO and President, Dr. A. Zachary Faison, Jr., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Genyne Henry Boston, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Dr. Stephanie Campbell, and Dean of Honors College, Dr. Takeia N. Anthony. Thanks to their unwavering and dedicated assistance, we have been able to undertake this ambitious endeavor. Special thanks also go to our editorial board members, Dr. Seong No Yoon, Professor Christian Bowers, Professor Aileen Miller-Jenkins, and Dean Megan Crowley-Watson for their valuable contributions to this issue. We would also like to acknowledge the peer reviewers for their input. Lastly, we also thank two special supporters who generously provided funding for our journal: Ms. Mia Hobdy, the Executive Director of the New Town Success Zone, and Mrs. Marie Heath, the Director of Schell Sweet Community Resource Center.
We hope you enjoy this inaugural issue of the HBCU Journal of Research Initiatives.
Dr. Hyo Kyung Woo
Editor-in-Chief & Director of the Center for Undergraduate Research
Edward Waters University