Meet Your Advisors

Dontae’ Gholson

Dontae' is from Petersburg, VA and went to Dinwiddie County High School. He graduated from Bluefield College in Virginia (not the West Virginia school, they were our basketball rivals whom we never lost to in my 4 years!). Dontae’ played college basketball and graduated with a Sports Management degree. Dontae’ is married with 2 children and 1 due in April. Dontae’ is a devoted member of his church and a licensed deacon there. Dontae’ has worked in Physical Therapy, Coaching and more recently Parks and Recreation, all of which helped equip him to be a First Year Advisor.

Dontae’ writes: “All my life I wanted to be a mentor and true difference maker for generations below me. I am a black male who grew up with a single mom, in a bad neighborhood. So I have heard all the stereotypes and “odds stacked against you” speeches. I want to be the person in students' lives that I know I desperately needed as a young person. An advisor who cares, speaks life and positivity but also keeps it real. I take pride in loving people and helping them be great.”

Chad Trevitte

Chad grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee and received his B.A. in English at Wake Forest University. He then earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also worked as a teaching assistant. After going back to Wake Forest University to teach English for four years, he moved to Harrisonburg to work at Bridgewater College, where he taught a first-year seminar and served as an academic advisor for undeclared majors. In 2022 he began work as First Year Advisor at EMU, where he also teaches the first-year Transitions course. Helping first-year students succeed in college has been essential to Chad’s work throughout his career, and it continues to inform his advising and teaching at EMU. He is married to Alexandra Keefe, a case manager for a local attorney.

Nina Zhang 

Nina grew up in China and came to the States in 2013 to continue her Master degree in Higher Education. She worked 6 years in Residence Life in different universities before starting a position of First Year advisor at EMU. Nina lived in Tulsa, OK, Springfield, MO, Cape Girardeau, MO, Virginia Beach, VA and now she lives in Broadway, VA with her husband, Michael and two precious cats - Tomato and Potato.