Honors College Graduate Awarded Major Scholarship
Contact: Emily Ann Cain, Coordinator of Advancement, Honors College, 207-581-3263
ORONO — Nicklaus Laverty, a 2006 Honors College graduate from the University of Maine is one of 77 students nationwide to earn a Graduate Scholarship in the nationally competitive Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Program. Laverty competed with 1,100 nominees to earn this distinction. The Graduate Scholarships cover tuition, room, board, fees and books – up to $50,000 annually – for up to six years. The scholarships are among the most generous academic awards offered in the United States.
Laverty, a native of Lewiston, received Highest Honors from the Honors College this past May, completing his degree in Political Science, with minor in English, from the University of Maine. Laverty’s Honors thesis, totaling 308 pages, was entitled “Postponing Democracy: Vladimir Putin and he Emergence of Authoritarianism in Post-Soviet Russia,” and was advised by Prof. James Warhola of the UMaine Political Science Department. This fall Laverty will attend the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, to begin working on his Ph.D. in Comparative Politics and International Affairs.
Laverty is very sure there is a connection between his involvement in the Honors College at UMaine and this award.
“I never would have known about this opportunity if Charlie Slavin, dean of the Honors College, had not encouraged me to apply. I know that completing my Honors thesis this year made me especially competitive in the selection process for this scholarship, and has me prepared to start doctoral work this fall with confidence,” he says.
This is the fifth year the Graduate Scholarship program has existed. The new scholars bring the total of recipients in the program to 286. The exact amount and duration of the scholarships vary by student, based on the cost of attendance and length of the graduate program as well as other scholarships or grants the student has received. Students attending any accredited college or university in the United States were eligible to apply. Each institution could nominate up to two students. Candidates then underwent a rigorous assessment at two stages by independent panels of academic experts, including graduate school deans, admissions counselors, and faculty members. The selection criteria included academic achievement and financial need as well as a will to succeed, leadership and community involvement.
The scholarship recipients come from 33 states and nine foreign nations. New York led all states with six scholars followed by Texas with five. Illinois and Indiana both had four scholars. The foreign scholars come from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, Romania, Trinidad, and Togo.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation’s programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate and high school students, and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need.