Truity, KU Alumni Association expand collaboration

An expanded collaboration between the Alumni Association and Truity Credit Union will invest more than $3.5 million in the Alumni Association and the University over the next seven years. The agreement designates Truity as the official credit union of the KU Alumni Association.

“We know and trust the team at Truity, and the time was right to expand our partnership,” says Heath Peterson, d’04, g’09, Alumni Association president. “Truity’s investment in the Association will further empower us to expand programs and services like the Jayhawk Career Network that benefit KU alumni, students and faculty.”

Truity’s investment will support several Alumni Association and KU initiatives, including Rock Chalk Forever, the Association’s annual fundraising event in Kansas City; the Jayhawk Career Network; and affinity networks, which unite Jayhawks worldwide according to their shared interests, communities and professions.

Truity is also investing in the KU student recruitment experience as the new presenting sponsor of Traditions Hall, which connects the Jayhawk Welcome Center to the Adams Alumni Center and is the launching point for all Lawrence campus visits by prospective KU students and their families.

The Alumni Association and Truity share historical ties to Phillips 66, the energy manufacturing and logistics company founded in 1917 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Truity originated as the Jane Phillips Sorority Credit Union in 1939, serving female employees of Phillips 66. The institution was renamed 66 Federal Credit Union in 1941 to serve all employees out of its headquarters in the Phillips 66 offices in Bartlesville. Many of Phillips’ executives through the years were renowned Jayhawks, including K.S. “Boots” Adams, 1921, whose family provided the seed gift for the Adams Alumni Center, which opened in 1983, and Paul Endacott, e1923, whose gift to the center endowed the Alumni Association’s society for retired faculty and staff. The connection between the Association and Phillips is so strong that the Alumni Center’s address, 1266 Oread Ave., pays homage to Phillips’ longtime support of KU and the Alumni Association. The new Jayhawk Welcome Center, which opened in 2023, now shares the same address.

Truity acquired KU Credit Union in 1990, cementing its connection to the University’s faculty and staff. The company and the Alumni Association have worked together for more than a decade. 

“We have a deep connection to the KU Alumni Association and are excited to enhance our relationship with and support of Jayhawks across the region,” says Aaron Beldner, Truity’s president and CEO. “Our mission is to reinvest in our members and our communities, and there isn’t a better way to do that than through this partnership. We’re excited to grow together in the coming years.”