IRVING, Texas –
The Boy Scouts of America will change its name for the first time in its 114-year history and become Scouting America. It’s a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a spate of sexual abuse allegations and seeks to focus on inclusivity.
The tradition-steeped organization has made sweeping changes after decades of upheaval, from finally allowing gay youth to welcoming girls into its entire ranks. Looking to increase membership, the Irving, Texas-based organization announced the name change Tuesday at its annual meeting in Florida.
“Over the next 100 years we want any young person in America to feel very, very welcome to participate in our programs,” Roger Krone, who took over last fall as president and CEO, 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 beginning in 2018 and into the program. Boy Scouts badge, renamed Scouts BSA. – in 2019.
There were nearly 1,000 young women in the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in 2021, including Selby Chipman. The 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 believes the name change will encourage even more girls to realize they can join .
“The girls were saying, ‘Can you join the Boy Scouts of America?’” said Chipman, now a 20-year-old college student and assistant scoutmaster for her troop.
Within days of the announcement that girls would be allowed, Bob Brady went to work. The father of two girls and proud Eagle Scout, the New Jersey attorney enthusiastically formed an all-girls troop. At his first weekend meeting with other troops, the boys were happy that the girls were participating, but some adult leaders seemed concerned, he recalled. His worries seemed to fade away as soon as the girls led a traditional cheer around the campfire.
“You could see a change in the attitude of some of the skeptics who weren’t sure and realized, wait, these kids look exactly the same, they just have ponytails,” Brady said. Her daughters are among the 13 girls in her troop and the 6,000 girls nationwide who have achieved the vaunted Eagle Scout rank.
Like other organizations, the scouts lost members during the pandemic, when participation was difficult. After a peak in the last decade of more than 2 million members in 2018, the organization currently serves just over 1 million young people, including more than 176,000 girls and young women. Membership peaked in 1972 at nearly 5 million.
The Boy Scouts’ decision to accept girls into all its ranks strained ties with the Girl Scouts of the USA, which sued, saying it created confusion in the marketplace and harmed its recruiting efforts. They reached a settlement agreement after a judge rejected those claims, saying both groups are free to use words like “explorers” and “explorers.”
While camping remains an integral activity for the Boy Scouts, the organization offers something for everyone today, from great adventures to merit badges in robotics and digital technology, Krone said: “Anything kids want to do today, they can do it in a structured way. within the exploration program.”
The Boy Scouts’ $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan went into effect last year, allowing the organization to continue operating while compensating the more than 80,000 men who say they were sexually abused. when they were children while they were explorers.
Angelique Minett, the first female president of Scouts BSA, becomes excited about the future of Scouting when she sees that the youth council of about 20 people from across the United States helps guide the program by raising issues important to them, such as sustainability and things that they would like to see changes, such as the adjustment of some of the uniforms.
“When we think of scouts, we think of knots and camps, but those are a means to an end,” Minett said. “Actually, we are teaching children something much bigger. “We are teaching them courage and we are teaching them life skills and we are teaching them how to be good leaders.”
The organization will not officially become Scouting America until February 8, 2025, when it will turn 115 years old. But Krone said he hopes people will start using the name immediately.
“It sends this really strong message to everyone in America that you can come to this show, you can bring your authentic self, you can be who you are and you will be welcome here,” Krone said.