EDITORIAL: Boy Scouts, under new name, ready to move forward
May 24—As the Boy Scouts of America prepare to celebrate the organization's 115th birthday, leaders are hoping the next hundred years bring more inclusion and growth in membership. And to kickstart those goals, the group announced earlier this month at its annual meeting in Florida it would change its name to Scouting America.
The announcement came as the organization marked five years of welcoming girls into Cub Scouting and Boy Scouts programs. Currently, according to the group's website, there are more than 176,000 girls and young women involved in all programs including more than 6,000 who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout. And while that's a decent start, hopefully the rebranding will open the door for many more.
Organizers state the rebranding reflects the "ongoing commitment to welcome every youth and family in America to experience the benefits of Scouting," according to the website.
"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," said Roger Krone, who took over last fall as Boy Scouts president and chief executive officer.
That's good to hear from the leader of a group that only opened its doors to gay youth in 2013. It was two years after that — in 2015 — that Boy Scouts ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders.
The latest change is so important, according to advocates, because now it puts pressure on the organization to really focus on its mission of inclusivity.
Lois Alvar, a 20-year-old Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster from the Dallas, Texas, area, said the rebrand really helps 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.
Sydney Ireland, who joined Boy Scouts in 2018 when they opened membership to girls and who is an Eagle Scout and advocate for girls in scouting, spoke to PBS about the importance of the latest change.
"A name change is so significant because it shows the country and the world that this is a Scouting organization for everyone," Ireland said. "I think that inclusivity is so important in especially an organization that prides itself on creating leaders."
And there have been numerous future leaders who were Boy Scouts, including presidents Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford, as well as astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actor Harrison Ford and filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
While the change isn't expected to go into effect until Feb. 8, 2025, Krone told The Associated Press in an interview before the announcement that he expects people to begin using the new name immediately.
That may be good news for the organization as it could help distance them from the flood of sexual abuse allegations over the past few decades. In 2023, the Boy Scouts unveiled a $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan that allowed the group to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who say they were sexually abused as children while in scouting.
"Scouting under the name Scouting America will enable us to chart a course toward continued growth, relevance and impact," Krone said when the organization's new name was announced.
Hopefully Scouting America can make good on its vision of inclusivity and growth among members, and the organization can continue to move in the right direction.
