Mock-up drawing of the new DATCU Stadium at the University of North Texas.
Credit/DATCU
Singer-songwriters Norah Jones, Meat Loaf and Don Henley are all noted as alumni of the University of North Texas (UNT), located in the far north suburb of Dallas in Denton.
Another notable alum is Melanie Vest, president of the $1.5 billion DATCU in Corinth, Texas. On Monday, DATCU became even more connected to the UNT after the organizations announced DATCU has signed a deal to be the exclusive financial institution for the university, as well as securing the naming rights to UNT's football stadium.
The histories of the credit union and UNT actually go back to the roots of both institutions. DATCU began as Denton County Teachers Federal Credit Union on the campus of North Texas State Teachers College, which eventually changed its name to the University of North Texas.
"It's a great marriage between two distinctly Denton institutions," Glen McKenzie, DATCU's CEO, said. "We were founded in 1936 by UNT educators and teachers from local school districts for the purpose of serving educators. This partnership honors that original vision and further engrains us into the North Texas region."
According to Monday's announcement, besides the naming rights, DATCU will provide financial advice and seminars at the UNT Career Center to prepare university students for professional careers.
"As a proud alumna, I do think it is important to build relationships that honor the vision of our institution's founders," Melanie Vest, DATCU's president, said. "I know UNT has a mission to train and inspire our future leaders. We share that passion and seek to build a solid financial foundation for those leaders."
According to UNT, its president and Board of Regents finalized the agreement on July 28. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
UNT has nearly 45,000 students and 4,600 faculty members.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
