Let’s hear it for the boys! The Boy Scouts, that is… well, kind of. The iconic American institution, founded on February 8, 1910 is celebrating its 115th birthday this weekend. To mark the occasion, they decided to officially change its name: Boy Scouts of America will hereafter be known as Scouting America to better reflect its more inclusive membership. This move follows the announced rebrand last year.
According to statistics from the organization, in the past 115 years, more than 130 million Americans have been through Scouting America programs, which is a whole lot of Pinewood Derby cars. Relatively speaking, it’s probably not a whole lot of openly gay members (only allowed in 2014 for youth and 2015 for adult volunteers), girls (allowed in 2019), or atheists and agnostics (allowed in 2016 but only under certain circumstances to this day).
Still, the move toward greater inclusivity has yielded rewards. While some have decried the changes to the deeply traditional organization as “woke,” Scouting America has seen a small but not insignificant uptick in membership in the past year, which currently stands at more than a million kids and almost half a million unit leaders, quartermasters, and other adult volunteers.
“Scouting America has helped instill timeless values for multiple generations of Americans,” said Roger Krone, Scouting America president and CEO in a press release. “In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, the values and skills instilled by Scouting are more critical than ever and the need for strong character, ethical decision-making, and effective leadership remains paramount.”
Krone told the Associated Press that the name change allows the Scouts to “rebrand and reset … that speaks to the organization that we are today and that we want to be in the future.” He noted that the Scouts are still overwhelmingly male — just under a quarter of membership is female — but that opening up the ranks allows greater opportunity for all. “We want to serve as many young people in America as we possibly can,” he concluded. “And we want there to be no doubt that all youth are welcome in our program.”
Other celebrations in honor of this milestone will include lighting up iconic landmarks — including Niagara Falls and the Empire State Building — in the Scout colors (red, white, and blue, naturally). The organization’s social media accounts are encouraging, Scouts past and present to share their favorite Scouting moments on Instagram (@boyscoutsofamerica) and TikTok (@scouting.america).
And what is a rename without a redesign: Scouting America will hoist its new flag over Scouting America HQ in Irving, Texas on February 12.
To learn more about the organization or joining, visit www.BeAScout.org.
