Boy Scouts of America Changing Name to More Inclusive Scouting America After Years of Woes
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/boy-scouts-new-name-scouting-america/2024/05/07/id/1163836/
The
Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time
in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant
shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual
abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
The
organization steeped in tradition has made seismic changes after decades of
turmoil, from finally allowing gay youth to welcoming girls throughout its
ranks. With an eye on increasing flagging membership numbers, the Irving,
Texas-based organization announced the name change Tuesday at its annual
meeting in Florida.
“In
the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to
come into our programs,” Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and
chief executive officer, said in an interview before the announcement.
The
organization began allowing gay youth in 2013 and ended a blanket ban on gay
adult leaders in 2015. In 2017, it made the historic announcement that girls
would be accepted as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout
program — renamed Scouts BSA — in 2019. Over 6,000 girls have now achieved the
vaunted Eagle Scout rank.
There
were nearly 1,000 young women in the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in
2021, including Selby Chipman. The all-girls troop she was a founding member of
in her hometown of Oak Ridge, North Carolina, has grown from five girls to
nearly 50, and she thinks the name change will encourage even more girls to
realize they can join.
“Girls
were like: ‘You can join Boy Scouts of America?’” said Chipman, now a
20-year-old college student and assistant scoutmaster of her troop.
When
people question the need to change the name, Krone points out that membership
is at historic lows. “Part of my job is to reduce all the barriers I possibly
can for people to accept us as an organization and to join,” he said.
Like
other organizations, the scouts lost members during the pandemic, when
participation was difficult. After a highpoint over the last decade of over 2
million members in 2018, the organization currently services just over 1
million youths, including more than 176,000 girls and young women. Membership
peaked in 1972 at almost 5 million.
David
Aaker, vice chairman of the national branding and marketing firm Prophet,
author and professor emeritus at the University
of California-Berkeley, called the name
change an “excellent” move that gives the organization a chance to start a new
conversation about itself, while not being so drastic that it strays too far
from its original scouting mission.
“It’s
a onetime chance to tell a new story,” Aaker said.
The
National Organization for Women had urged the Boy Scouts to open itself to
girls throughout its ranks. Bear Atwood, vice president of NOW, said the name
change “signals that not only are girls allowed to join but they are welcome to
join.”
Reaction
online Tuesday ranged from those excited and supportive to those decrying that
“boy” no longer appears in the name. “Wokeness destroys everything it touches,”
wrote Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Georgia Republican, on X.
But
Lois Alvar, a 20-year-old Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster from the Dallas
area, said the new name should help all scouts feel accepted. “Having it
nationally recognized that girls are being welcomed and included in scouting
allows it to be a more safe space, just in general,” she said.
The
move to accept girls throughout the Boy Scout ranks strained a bond with the
Girl Scouts of the USA, which sued, saying it created marketplace confusion and
damaged their recruitment efforts. They reached a settlement agreement after a
judge rejected those claims, saying both groups are free to use words like
“scouts” and “scouting.”
The
Boy Scouts’ $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan took effect last year,
allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating the more than
80,000 men who say they were sexually abused as children while scouting.
The
organization won't officially become Scouting America until Feb. 8, 2025, the
organization's 115th birthday. But Krone said he expects people will start
immediately using the name.
“It
sends this really strong message to everyone in America that they can come to
this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are and
they will be welcomed here,” Krone said.
Connecting
the Dots:
Togo D. West Jr. is
a national executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America and
a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
John C. Whitehead is
a co-chairman for the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts, a
director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank)
and an overseer at the International Rescue Committee.
Condoleezza Rice is
a governor for the Boy Scouts of America, an honorary director at
the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank) and an overseer at the International Rescue
Committee.
Open Society Foundations was a funder
for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
George Soros is the founder
& chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for
the International Rescue Committee.
Andrew S. Grove was
an overseer at the International Rescue Committee and a benefactor
for the University of California, Berkeley.
David H. Romer is
a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a
senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder
for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
David M.
Rubenstein is the co-chairman for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a regent at the Smithsonian Institution and
spent Thanksgiving with Joe Biden.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. is
a regent at the Smithsonian Institution, the president for
the Joe Biden Administration and an honorary chair
for the Boy Scouts of America.
| Boy Scouts of America | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Age range |
| ||
| Headquarters | Irving, Texas | ||
| Location | United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea | ||
| Country | United States | ||
| Founded | February 8, 1910 | ||
| Founders | |||
| Membership | 1,063,338 youth (2023) 42,822 units (2023)[1] | ||
| Chief Scout Executive | Roger Krone | ||
| Chair | Brad Tilden | ||
| National Commissioner | Scott Sorrels | ||
| Honorary Chair | Joe Biden | ||
| Affiliation | World Organization of the Scout Movement | ||
| Governing body | National Executive Board | ||
| Website scouting | |||
Boy Scouts of America
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America#References
Resources:
Past Research
'Be
prepared': 'Gay' men with Boy Scouts in tents (Past
Research for the Boy Scouts of America)
SUNDAY,
MAY 24, 2015
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2015/05/be-prepared-gay-men-with-boy-scouts-in.html
Berkeley
Mayor Wants ‘Free Speech Week’ Canceled; Trump Supporters ‘Wanted to Get Beat
Up’ by Antifa (Past Research on the University of
California, Berkeley)
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 30, 2017
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2017/08/berkeley-mayor-wants-free-speech-week.html
Smaller
Bites – David Rubenstein (Connecting the Dots: David Rubenstein, Joe Biden, The
Smithsonian Institution, Economic Club of Washington, The U.S. Supreme Court
& The Soros Funded Think Tanks, All Networking) (Past
Research on the Smithsonian Institution)
TUESDAY,
NOVEMBER 22, 2022
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2022/11/smaller-bites-david-rubenstein.html
