For over a century, one of America’s largest youth organizations has been known as the Boy Scouts of America. However, the program has announced that it will be changing its name to Scouting America to address inclusivity and a wave of internal upheaval that left the organization on shaky ground.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was established in 1910 and currently counts around one million youth as members, including 176,000 female participants. The BSA notes that its mission is to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.” The Irving, Texas-based group now wants their name to reflect that mission more than ever.
The Boy Scouts of America announced that they are changing their name to be more inclusive
Between 2019 and 2021, the Boy Scouts lost half of its membership, which peaked back in the 1970s at four million. In 2019, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints split with the scouts to start its own youth program, which further kneecapped membership. The pandemic was the final nail in the coffin. In 2020, the organization actually declared bankruptcy. Over the years, to address worsening conditions, BSA has evolved to appeal to a wider audience and better reflect its mission. Now, that sees the Boy Scouts changing to Scouting America.
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“In the next 100 years we want any youth in America to feel very, very welcome to come into our programs,” said president and chief executive officer Roger Krone in an interview ahead of the name change announcement on Tuesday.
In 2017, the organization made the unprecedented announcement that girls would be accepted as Cub Scouts starting in 2018 and into the Boy Scout program, Scouts BSA, in 2019. 1000 girls made up the inaugural Eagle Scout troop. A troop of five girls in Oak Ridge, North Carolina, quickly expanded to nearly 50, a growth their local scout leader imagines will only continue with the name change.
A history of change across the decades
This latest change will officially take effect on February 8, 2025, coinciding with the 115th anniversary of the organization’s founding. By time of writing AP reports that 6,000 girls have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.
This has been the latest in a series of changes and adaptations made by BSA over the years. Gay youth were allowed in as of 2013, and the organization lifted its ban on gay adult leaders in 2015. In 2017, transgender boys were allowed to join.
These, in turn, follow long back-and-forth debates and legal battles, including a 14-year legal fight to allow a woman to be named a scoutmaster and troop leader. Arguments for allowing gay scoutmasters went all the way to the Supreme Court. Now, Krone and the scouts want to reverse that with this name change.
“It sends this really strong message to everyone in America that they can come to this program,” asserted Krone, “they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are and they will be welcomed here.” But for MSNBC writer Ryan Teague Beckwith, the future Scouting America still has a lot to do, as even though it emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it had to immediately formulate a budget of $2.4 billion dedicated to supporting 80,000 men who were victims of sexual abuse during their time with the Boy Scouts.
