Camping & High Adventure

Per the OA website: Once contributed, the funds will stay in perpetuity within the OA Endowment, whose spending policy allows for the growth of the funds to provide support to key leadership development initiatives within the OA. 1915 Society | Order of the Arrow, Scouting America

I would be interested in where the funds go and for what purpose?  How is this different from FOS or the James E. West fellowship?  Do I get another square knot? Or knot?

Agree with that line of thinking...  make it an honor to be earned & recognized for again, and make senior patrols of OA Scouts in units the centerpiece ... with emphasis on unit and community service. There is too much emphasis on serving the Lodge, rather than serving your unit or the community.  So much so, that the Lodge and the OA have become a self-licking ice cream cone (yes, I've used that phrase before...)  That is, for most of the Lodges I have seen since the early 2000's, the Lodge exists to serve itself.  This is one avenue where the OA has gone wrong...  Hopefully, some of you out there have vastly different experiences.

I like the OA. I've got lots of good memories from my youth and the admonition has stuck with me as an adult. That said, I wouldn't be upset if it folded. Lax membership standards and concerns over Native American cosplay have left the OA in rough shape. One underrated benefit of ending the OA program would be a boost in Venturing participation. Right now, they function as parallel senior scout programs, but a strong chapter could easily function as a Crew and continue providing service to its district and local camps. If the OA were to continue in present form, I'd consider eliminating elections in favor of a universal standard such as: 50 Nights of Camping 50 Hours of Community Service Star Rank Completion of Ordeal

More to participate in the endowment donation program.