Silence Can Be Controversial Too

Don’t be afraid to speak up.

At CU Times, we have a duty to cover the “nuts and bolts” of credit union executive concerns – regulatory changes, data breach news, HR issues and marketing strategies, just to name a few. But the stories that make me stop and realize what we’re doing all of this for are those that feature a credit union growing closer to its community, like one we ran on April 6 about Oklahoma Educators Credit Union’s recent support for teachers on strike.

During a walkout outside the Oklahoma state house over low pay and classroom spending, OECU employees set up a booth and handed out water bottles to teachers marching by, later tweeting that they had given away more than 4,500 bottles. The story stood out to me not because of the credit union’s community involvement (announcements of CU scholarship handouts and food drives fill our inboxes daily), but because of its willingness to take a stand publicly on a political issue that severely impacts its members’ lives.