Calvin Banks, the new Missouri Students Association chief justice, is a junior majoring in educational studies with an emphasis in educational leadership. 

Banks expressed uncertainty about what he wants his post-MU future to look like stating, “I don’t know. Do we know? Does anyone know?” Banks was born and raised in Rock Island, Ill. In both elementary school and junior high, Banks was involved in student government in some way. He recalled being called “Congressman Banks” in the fifth grade, and “Senator Banks” in junior high. 

Banks was initially drawn to MU because of the beautiful and walkable campus. Banks was supposed to tour a few campuses before committing to a college, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, MU was one of the only tours he got to do. Banks calls that a “blessing in disguise” as it brought him to MU. 

“[MU] is very much like a dream college … it’s very much what you see in the movies,” Banks said.

Banks attributes his involvement with MSA toMarching Mizzou, where he plays the trumpet. Connections in the band led him to join Summer Welcome and that eventually connected him with Miyah Jones and Cydney Perkins, the incumbent president and vice president of MSA. Banks said that Jones and Perkins encouraged him to join.

“I have always liked the idea of politics, where they’re necessary,” Banks said, so he joined MSA as an at-large senator, which is a senator that serves the general student body rather than a specific college at MU. 

After finding early success and enjoyment in the association, Banks said he moved up as much as he could, going from an at-large senator to an academic senator for the College of Education and Human Development and then became the outreach and engagement coordinator. 

“I almost hate to say it, but I’ve served in almost every capacity MSA has to offer,” Banks said. “I’ve been on the legislative branch. I’ve been on the executive branch. I’m on the judicial branch.”

Banks attributed some of his biggest accomplishments to his time with the Senate, such as forming open town hall discussions, passing a bill for MSA’s Vice Presidents Day and also reaching out to students as a part of Constitution Day. 

“We went to Sam’s Club, got 500 cupcakes, red, white and blue, and handed them out in the Student Center with pocket-sized constitutions,” Banks said. 

When the former Chief Justice Aidan Lurtz’s term expired, Banks said he went “all out” for his application. 

“I wanted the position so bad,” Banks said. “I wanted to continue my growth in the association.”

Banks said he wants to use his prior experience as the outreach and engagement coordinator to build awareness and transparency about MSA’s judicial branch. Another goal Banks hopes to accomplish with his new platform is to make managing disputes within campus organizations easier. 

“I want to make a more accessible way for people to file petitions to the court,” Banks said. 

To help with some of these changes, Banks said he wants to appoint an attorney general to help bring things forward on the docket for the judicial branch to discuss, and to act as a lawyer for MSA. 

Banks also said he wants his judicial branch to take some of the pressure off the Student Conduct Committee, which is a group of students who decide cases involving student discipline. 

“There’s a [committee] for academic affairs … they appoint two students to represent the student body,” Banks said. “So the idea is the judicial branch will take that over for the Student Conduct Committee.” 

Banks also stated the importance of students being involved in MSA and making sure that they build their own awareness as to what MSA is doing. 

“Students are paying $10 and some change to [MSA],” Banks said. “We put all this funding in, but in the end, it’s the receptiveness of the student.” 

Edited by Sophia Anderson | [email protected]

Copy Edited by Jae Green and Briana Iordan | [email protected]

Edited by Scout Hudson | [email protected]

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Banks was from Iowa, not Illinois. This mistake has since been corrected.