University Federal Credit Union (UFCU) was chartered in 1937 to serve the faculty and staff of the University of North Dakota (UND). At this time the United States was still embroiled in the Great Depression. It was in this setting that UND employees recognized the need for financial stability in their community and organized UFCU. The founders of UFCU were then UND President John C. West, long-time Law School Dean Olaf Thormodsgard, and Professor Erich Selke, the namesake of UND dormitory Selke Hall, to name a few.
The original 1937 Organization Certificate of UFCU states a wish to “make more credit available to people of small means…thereby helping to stabilize the credit structure of the United States.” The first ever board meeting minutes reflect this desire as the secretary recorded, “it was the strongly expressed judgment of the meeting that small loans be made as easy and convenient as possible to obtain and that no conditions be imposed which might discourage members from applying for them.”
On September 22, 2000 UFCU opened our field of membership to include UND students. This change was supported by the UND student body president and vice president. They included a letter of support stating that UND students did not want to start their own credit union as they felt that UFCU had the resources and willingess in place to serve the UND student community.
Today UFCU is just as focused on exclusively serving the UND community as we were in 1937. UFCU is owned by our members, and our members drive our decisions. For example, recently UFCU began offering airplane loans at the request of several UND aviation students.
UFCU is dedicated to the well being of our members and the UND community. We look forward to serving you!