Northeastern University is proud to announce that Nicholas J. Menegakis Coates, a graduate student in the university’s School of Journalism, has been selected for a prestigious scholarship from the Alpha Omega Council, an organization that promotes Hellenic ideals, focusing on culture, charity, academia, and professional achievement in the Greek American community.

The $5,000 scholarship, which is named after Council founder and long-time Hellenic Chronicle publisher Peter Agris, is awarded annually to journalism and communications students of Greek American heritage who demonstrate active participation in their universities, communities, and churches.

Mr. Coates is one of six recipients to be chosen this year, out of a pool of more than 148 applicants, worldwide. The Agris Scholarship will help him continue his graduate studies at Northeastern, where he also serves as a teaching assistant for former U.S. News and World Report foreign correspondent, Nicholas Daniloff.

Coates was selected in part for his journalism experience, having worked at The New Hampshire Union Leader, The Granite State News, and The Telegraph. Equally important was Coates’ record of public service, having worked as a consultant to the International Committee for the Children of Chechnya and a member of Facilitate Opportunities for Refugee Growth & Empowerment (FORGE).

Coates and his fellow recipients will be honored at the Alpha Omega Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner on Saturday, June 2nd at the Weston Boston Waterfront. Several former scholarship recipients, who now fill the ranks of news anchors, correspondents for major news publications, feature writers, and publishers, will be present at this event.

“Without the help of the Peter Agris Scholarship,” states Coates, “I would not be able to go back to school next year, let alone pursue my future goals. I never knew Peter Agris, but his story shows that he was a man of great devotion to the truth and to bettering humanity through his writing. These are the ideals that made the Greeks a great civilization. As a Greek American journalist, I want to continue dedicating myself to those values, and to carrying out his legacy as a champion of humanity.”

Coates is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., and the Manchester Young Professionals Network. He is currently working on a journalism internship in Washington D.C. with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a non-profit that provides free legal assistance to journalists. He will also volunteer at the American Foreign Policy Council, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the International Center for Journalists.

After completing Northeastern’s master’s program in August 2008, Coates hopes to pursue either a fellowship with the Nieman Foundation or a Fulbright Scholarship.

For more information, please contact John Natale at 617-373-2802 or j.natale@neu.edu.

About Northeastern: Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in interdisciplinary research, urban engagement, and the integration of classroom learning with real-world experience. The university’s distinctive cooperative education program, where students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in fields relevant to their professional interests and major, is one of the largest and most innovative in the world. The University offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in six undergraduate colleges, eight graduate schools, and two part-time divisions. For more information, please visit www.northeastern.edu.