by NIKKI ROBERTI
Lifestyles Reporter

Driving up the mountain seemed surreal to A. Jamar Banks, the new director of Lee H. McCaskey Center for Leadership and Student Involvement.

He wasn’t just captivated by its uniqueness in comparison to his flat home of Nebraska, though.

He was afraid of heights.

“I’m afraid of heights and I live on top of a mountain,” Banks said. “That’s how significant of an influence this place has had on my life."

Banks has always tried to embrace the challenges of life full force, and he understands the stresses of students all too well.

A graduate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in criminal justice and speech communication, Banks not only worked hard in pursuing his degree, but managed being a varsity basketball point guard and a husband and father as well.

“I had a son at that time, and I was playing basketball, traveling, going to study hall and doing all the other things that go along with getting a degree at a Division I institution,” he said. “Just like many of the students here at [Appalachian], you have to balance. [It’s] just about balancing things and rising to the challenge.”

Just like on the courts, Banks understands the importance of teamwork in all aspects in life.

As director, he said his job is all about the goals of CSIL as a whole, rather than pursuing personal goals.

“It’s not about what I want to accomplish. It’s about what we want to accomplish as a team,” he said. “We’re 100 percent available to the students here at [Appalachian] and we’re willing to go beyond what’s expected of us in our given capacities.”

In fact, the students and people here are Banks’ favorite part of Appalachian overall and he encourages students to stop by and visit his office whenever they want since he has an “open door policy.”

“I don’t think you can match anywhere in the country to the quality of the individuals who are at this institution,” he said.

Before making the move to Boone, Banks resided in Nebraska as the Director of the Culture Center and the OASIS program at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he also received his masters in leadership education.

Banks is all about his family, which includes his wife, 17-year-old son, and 6 year-old triplets.

In fact, he said the most memorable experience of his life was the birth of his triplets, two boys and a girl in 2002.

His family currently resides in Nebraska and will not make the move to Boone for at least another year, Banks said.

However, although it was an inopportune time for him to move to Boone as the CSIL director from a “family standpoint,” Banks said he would have made the move all over again.

As if moving to Boone and leaving his family in Nebraska was not adventurous enough, Banks said he cannot wait to experience the different aspects of Boone.

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