Highlighting John Palmer Rea

John Palmer Rea, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

John Palmer Rea started as a student recruiter and student worker in admissions when he was enrolled at Belmont University (Nashville, TN).  He managed and trained all of our tour guides and became president of our student Bruin Recruiter organization of over 130 volunteers.  He found a passion for higher education, and we hired him immediately upon graduation as an admission counselor.  He left Belmont from 2018-2019 to be a regional recruiter for University of Mississippi and lived in Atlanta where he did what he does best – developed strong personal and professional relationships with the school counselors and other recruiters in the Atlanta area.

In 2019, we hired him back as an Assistant Director where he has been an invaluable team member. From training and mentoring new counselors, answering many questions from the team, organizing the logistics of our virtual events, to being the Honors program liaison, he is always willing to help lend a hand for our team (and recommend a local coffee shop in the cities in which he travels!). For the profession, he served as Faculty Member for two consecutive years with the Dry Run annual SACAC workshop in 2019 & 2020, where he mentored new professionals and facilitated sessions about best practices within the industry. He is an amazing face and voice for the profession and a brilliant advocate for the students. He always knows the right thing to say and extends kindness and grace. As a mentor, he has helped us learn our CRM, helped with planning travel, and even shadowed our beginning sessions to give feedback. He is committed to pursuing excellence and does his job so well. We are so grateful to have John Palmer on our team.