The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history, rebranding as Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 I got my Eagle Scout in 2021, so I've been an Eagle Scout for three years now. I've had a lot
00:06 of trouble in the past explaining to people that I'm not exactly part of the Girl Scouts program,
00:11 but I'm part of Scouts BSA. Scouting America sounds a lot more inclusive of all of the other
00:17 people that are in Scouting. I think it sends this really strong message to everyone in America
00:24 that they can come to this program, they can bring their authentic self, they can be who they are,
00:30 and they will be welcomed here. The argument that I make with the people that say, "Well,
00:36 I always like Boy Scouts of America or BSA. Why do we have to change?" Go, "Membership is at
00:42 historic lows." Part of my job is to reduce all the barriers I possibly can for people to accept
00:52 us as an organization and to join. In the past, the name itself or the name alone, even though we
00:58 were open up to girls, there were still a couple of different challenges that we were facing. It
01:03 wasn't just other Scouts that were trying to put us down, but also some adults who were still not
01:09 open to it. And so having it nationally recognized that girls are being welcomed and included in
01:16 Scouting allows it to be a more safe space just in general. But I think it's also important that
01:24 Scouts everywhere feel like the national Scouting community is accepting them.