John Coffee was one of the founders of the AVA and the first editor of our monthly publication THE FARE BOX for almost 60 years. He died on May 8, 2012 and the AVA created a Scholarship in his name at Emerson College where he was a tenured professor of History.
The AVA created a 10 year scholarship to commemorate his efforts and benefit students at the University he loved so much.
The winners of the scholarship were;
| Year | Recipient |
| 2013-2014 | Frankie Olito Jaqueline Pauley |
| 2014-2015 | Anna Cleslik Lauren Holt |
| 2015-2016 | Taylor Kiss |
| 2016-2017 | Mary Nicora |
| 2017-2018 | Mary Nicora |
| 2018-2019 | Tyler Robichaud |
| 2019-2020 | |