The story
In 1982, four students wanted to help the school's community with their banking, ultimately chartering the Georgetown University Student Federal Credit Union with the National Credit Union Administration on February 9, 1983. At the time, Riggs Bank was the only campus option. Students Alyce Russo, Len Schoppa, and Kyle Stevenson did much of the credit union's setup work, receiving permission from the university administration to open on the second floor of the O'Gara Building prior to its demolition in 1984. George Houston, then Georgetown University's treasurer, also helped the group by securing an investment of $100,000 from the school. GUSFCU was able to offer debit cards to members early on, due to an affinity agreement with MBNA, itself founded in 1982 by Charles Cawley, a Georgetown alumnus.
The credit union later moved to the Leavey Center, where it pays rent to the school. In 1994, GUSFCU officially became GUASFCU (the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union) to emphasize the importance of alumni to its membership base. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the credit union matched any donations made to the Red Cross by members. In 2007, the credit union helped organize seminars for graduating seniors on financial literacy. The credit union celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2008 with an address from the Vice Chairman of the National Credit Union Administration, Rodney E. Hood, who praised the union for its service. In 2010, the organization was criticized for sharing its customer list with Bank of America as part of a seven-year affinity agreement the banks signed in 2007. In 2011, GUASFCU worked with The Corp and The Hoya to create the Reimagine Georgetown Partnership, which gave grants of between $500 and $10,000 toward innovative campus projects. That year they also built upon previous efforts begun in 2006 with their ₵ommon $ense financial literacy courses for graduating seniors, expanding the weekly courses to a full month.
Despite the arrival of a PNC bank branch on campus in the fall of 2009, GUASFCU assets rose to $12.4 million. By fall 2010, they rose to over $16 million, with over 10,000 individual members. As of spring 2021, GUASFCU has over $18 million in AUM. GUASFCU supports a variety of philanthropic events benefiting the Georgetown community, the greater D.C. area, and national charities and foundations, including Relay For Life, Run 4 Rigby, Georgetown Rangila, and the John Thompson III Foundation.
Today, the organization remains entirely student-run, “from the teller to the CEO.” In 2011, the credit union had 105 student “interns”, who worked up to fifty hours each week.
From Wikipedia’s article on Georgetown University Alumni & Student Federal Credit Union, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4