SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass.-Even in the cooperative credit union movement, Dan Egan allowed, folks just can't help but wonder if there is something more to his resignation from the CUNA Board of Directors than his previously offered explanation of wanting to give others the opportunity to serve. There isn't, he assured, during a recent interview with Credit Union Times. "Oh, people were asking `What's wrong? Was there some political fallout?'" Egan laughed, recalling the curious reaction so many had to his sudden notice, which became effective on March 13. "There was none of that," he said. He just saw the opportunity to do something he'd been thinking of doing for a time and seized the moment before it passed. "Each time I thought it was the right time, some other crisis or issue came up that made it necessary to postpone it," he said. That string of crises the credit union movement (and CUNA's board) had to respond to and mobilize against was the field-of-membership challenge, the trade's `Renewal' process and the transition of leadership brought about by the selection of former congressman Dan Mica as president/CEO. "I've been involved in credit unions for some 19 years now," Egan recalled. "I really feel that the time spent on the board was very interesting, but it sure was exhausting." The travel and time-demands required to attend board meetings, and the follow-up to the policy decisions reached in those meetings took a toll after seven years of service, Egan said. It just took away from time he could spend with his family, he said. "I have four children, and I tried to be there for them as much as possible; but I also had a real commitment to the credit union system." Eventually, something had to give. Then there was the consideration that a board needs to have new faces, new ideas and new blood, he observed. "You have to allow other folks the freedom to serve; they also have a contribution to make. That's what makes a volunteer board so effective-new thoughts and ideas. And sometimes, having someone stay on who has a long history can be an impediment." CUNA won't have any problem in finding other well-qualified volunteers to serve, he said, but cautioned that the time and energy involved in such service must be accompanied by a drive and desire to do so. Egan bristled at the thought that he wasn't a "true" volunteer because he was a credit union league professional. As president of the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island Credit Union Leagues, he has ample work to fill his newfound time and freedom, and stressed that he never got any renumeration for his service. "I didn't earn a cent," he said. "If anything, I paid a price to be away from family and friends, but we all do that." Egan said he would favor a kind of `term limit' on board service, if only to allow for a time of regeneration. "It would challenge management to raise the bar always." -
caburger@cutimes.com
