When professor Brad Belote first stepped foot onto Gordon’s campus as one the college’s brand new professors, he carried with him more than 20 years of experience in both journalism and the corporate world, and a sense that God had opened a new door for him at the perfect time.
He has previously held prominent roles such as executive producer and news director of local news stations, communications representative at a fortune 350 company, but this is his first time being in higher education.
“Most recently, I’ve been up at the Planet Fitness Corporate headquarters up in New Hampshire,” he explained. “So I’m pivoting careers in midlife. Yes. But it is awesome, fantastic, and just the right thing I need in my life at this point.”
Belote’s journey to find this role as professor was not always straightforward. As a young fifth and sixth grader, he admired his teachers enough to want to follow in their steps of teaching, but quickly changed his mind once he got to middle school. “Those kids were horrible!” he joked. Eventually, he fell in love with journalism and continued to pursue it for a good portion of his professional career.
But teaching continued to stay in the back of his mind. Belote kept finding himself in various teaching roles like leading Cub Scouts, teaching group fitness, and coaching his own colleagues. “What I found was when I had those opportunities where I was plugged into a teacher role, oh, I got super excited about that.”
When Gordon announced its new Digital Marketing and Communications major last year, they also began their search for a new professor who would fit the bill for this specific intersection of business and digital media communications. Belote recognized that his experience was nearly a perfect match for this role, and decided to apply.
What drew him to this role was not only the opportunity to teach, but also this unique academic program that Gordon had put together. “Kudos to Gordon for recognizing this opportunity to bring these two things together in a way that that leverages the business smarts that are required, as well as the communication skills that are required, and putting those together in a way that hopefully produces something in students not only want, but then can turn into the start of their careers.”
Faith also played a big role in Belote’s ultimate decision to begin his Gordon career. He felt God’s call to this role, and heard Him “knocking on [his] door”, but was still unsure because of his lack of experience. Belote recalls this uncertainty saying “I don’t know that I’m the right person for this, but I’m going to try. I’m going to do my best.” Luckily, God did indeed open this door for him.
Belote’s personal story is also shaped by faith and perseverance. He and his late wife, Missy, adopted three children, Zeke, Zeb and Quilla, all from different countries. Time and time again, he explained, God showed himself in miraculous ways throughout the years-long adoption process, whether that was through unexpected financial gifts or community support. “Vietnam wanted a big amount right up front. And so we’re like, well, to do this, we would need this number. A couple of weeks later a family member handed us a card with a check with that amount on it. God’s great provision.”
Missy passed away from ovarian cancer in 2021 after a four year long battle with the disease. It was in grief counseling where Belote met his now wife, Clarissa, whose partner had also passed away. Clarissa has four children of her own, making their blended family a total of nine together. “God has been incredibly faithful in both of our lives in a number of ways, in giving us communities of support through our grief. In giving us community support in blending these two families.”
Now settled in New England, Professor Belote and his family are eager to invest in the Gordon community, a place where he says has already made him feel like himself again. “It is a community unlike any other, that is so enriching and so welcoming. It doesn’t feel, to me, like a workplace.”
Belote says before he started in this position, he was most looking forward to being able to start his days with chapel. Now, he finds himself grateful for the community in every aspect of Gordon, whether that be watching a field hockey game, going to the Bennett center, or simply teaching a class. “God’s great provision just gets reaffirmed every time I come here. And there’s something new I learn about me and my faith and Christians and Christians in New England that just stands out being here. It is a very stark reminder of, you know, God is always at work in [the] present. And you may not see it, but eventually you will see it.”
Leave a Reply