How this Tennessee girl defied the hate and the critics to become an Eagle Scout
"are you female? just wondering..."
The 13-year-old got the private message on Instagram from some boy she knew on June 7, 2019 — four months after she became part of one of the first all-girl troops in Tennessee to get a charter from Scouts BSA, formerly Boy Scouts of America.
"Uh yeah," the girl, Rachel Oppmann, fired back. "Does my profile picture not give it away??"
"then why does it say bsa in your bio which obviously means 'boy scouts of america'," he wrote. "I mean no judgement here if you wanna be a guy, just wondering"
"Because Scouts BSA now includes all-female troops as of this year," Oppmann wrote.
"yeah i know that ... its horrible," he wrote.
"like u have no clue how much i don't even want to get my eagle anymore because i dont know if i want to be part of an organization that is called boy scouts and still lets in girls.
"like boy scouts is the one place in my life i can get away from females and now the feminist at taking over, you know how stupid that is? disgusting"
'Hey, this is a big deal'
Oppmann, now an 18-year-old senior at Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, was in Girl Scouts, for five years, but she didn't really like it. All she really remembers from that time is learning about recycling and learning how to set a dinner table.
One day in seventh grade homeroom, a classmate told her that Boy Scouts was going to let in girls.
Meh, Oppmann thought. That could be another activity, but by then, she was really immersed in and in love with performing in theater.
Her dad, though, was way more pumped about the news. He had earned the Boy Scouts' highest rank, Eagle Scout, as a teen, and as an adult, he kept a display of his Scout memorabilia in the house.
Andrew Oppmann, father to three daughters, had always been sad there wouldn't be another Eagle Scout in the family.
"He’s happy to have all girls," Rachel Oppmann said, "but he always wanted to have a kid who had those Scouting experiences, hiking and camping; he wanted to share those."
The Boy Scouts' 2019 shift to let in girls provided that opportunity.
"So my dad was saying, 'Hey, this is a big deal.'"
Eventually, Rachel Oppmann decided to join one of Tennessee's first all-girl Scouts BSA troops for four reasons:
Breaking barriers really appealed to her rebel side.
She loved the idea of bonding with her dad in something that meant a lot to him.
She liked outdoor activities.
And as the youngest of three, she liked that she'd be able to do something her two older sisters couldn't. Call it the nana nana boo boo factor. But Rachel swears this was the least important reason she joined.
Oppmann liked all the TV cameras and reporters gathered around her and the 15 other girls who received their Troop 2019 charter on Feb. 1, 2019, in the historic Rutherford County courthouse.
'There was a lot of hate'
"All eyes are on you," she shrugged, "no different than being on stage."
Oppmann and the other girls quickly discovered, though, that hostility and fear often come along with attention and breaking barriers.
"Yeah, there was a lot of hate out there, a lot on social media," said the girls' first scoutmaster, Kevin Phillips, 48, of Rockvale, Tennessee.
The day after receiving their charter, the girls went to a daylong "merit badge university" with other Scouts BSA troops, and several parents of Boy Scouts said the girls were "ruining" Scouting, Oppmann and Phillips said.
At 13, Oppmann confronted the critical parents that day.
"I said something along the lines of, 'We’re a bunch of kids trying to be part of the Boy Scouts, and people like you aren’t going to stop us. You can be mad at us all you want but it’s not going to change the fact that we are still here,'" she said.
"And I said, 'I can’t believe you’d go against the Scout Law, which says, in part, a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, friendly, cheerful, courteous and kind.'"
About a year later, the national Scouts BSA organization re-posted a picture online of Oppmann in her uniform with her Westie puppy, Lucy. That Instagram post became a target for those wanting to protest girls being let into Boy Scouts.
'I had to change my demeanor'
The hundreds of comments became so mean-spirited that Scouts BSA turned off commenting for the post and removed those that were there.
When the girls sold popcorn outside grocery stores to fund the troop, several people refused to buy the popcorn, saying they wouldn't support girls being part of Scouting, Phillips said.
The hate just fueled Oppmann and her troopmates, who focused with even more purpose toward earning merit badges and toward having as many of them as possible reach Eagle Scout, she said.
Phillips said the girls just largely ignored haters, worked hard and had fun: "They all knew why were there, and they enjoyed it."
Oppmann became a troop leader, which involved several training sessions with Scouts across the state and the country.
She found herself being hyper-vigilant there.
"I had to change my demeanor in Scouts," Oppmann said. "I wasn’t the same fun, bubbly person I am in theater and everywhere else. I was more headstrong, like, I'm here and I mean business."
Oppmann became a leader and historian for the troop. Her Eagle Scout project involved building a website about the troop and putting up a display in the same Rutherford County courthouse where the girls received their Scouting charter.
City, county and district Scouting officials attended her Eagle Scout court of honor presentation in December. So did her very proud Eagle Scout father and her mom, Elise.
Oppmann also has flourished in theater, acting in 27 plays, including the lead role in "Legally Blonde" at her high school. She designed and helped build five sets for those plays. And she has logged more than 1,200 hours of service to organizations in the Murfreesboro area, including the Rutherford County Historic Courthouse Museum, The Arts Center of Cannon County and Barfield Crescent Park.
That all culminated last month with Oppmann earning a Congressional Award Gold Medal, Congress' highest honor for civilian youth.
Asked what she might say to the Boy Scout who five years ago trolled her on Instagram, Oppmann wrote this:
"As I’m sure you have successfully earned your Eagle Scout rank, Scouts BSA has shaped you into an adult who can face the world and overcome the challenges thrown your way. I hope you can see how helpful it has been for you, and acknowledge that no one should be restricted from the same opportunities. To deprive any child of a program so influential would deprive the world of young adults invested in nature, leadership, and their communities. Not only should Scouts BSA be open for young women, it should be welcoming for all youth.
"The Scout law tells us to be “friendly” and “kind” to others, and as you have progressed in your Scouting career I’m sure these words have increased in importance. If so, I hope you are able to recognize how your response to girls joining scouts directly conflicted with these words. While nothing can be done to change the past, I hope it gives you the opportunity to make progress in the future and learn how to find the light in what may be dark situations for you. From one Scout to another, I am actually happy you were able to prepare me for future discrimination and learn how to continue blazing a trail that countless women will follow."
Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee girl defied the hate and became an Eagle Scout
