belladonna

We'll have to agree to disagree.  When jr. varsity practices from 3-5 and varsity practices from 6-8 and your troop meets at 7...you have no idea if you'll make varsity as a sophomore.

And perhaps that's another reason why council strongly advised that our troop move to 6-month leadership commitments, as most other troops in our area do.  Which also provides additional opportunities for boys to step into leadership roles.  

ETA - based on recent replies, I think it's important for me to say that my posts were never intended to justify or demonstrate merit for the Disputed Circumstances option or my son's particular challenges.  Because he is my son, and I believe he earned his Eagle despite tremendous obstacles, I will bow out now.  I'm taking these responses far too personally.  Thank you!

Schiff and DavidCo...I get what you're saying, but I resent the implication that my boy "didn't care".  My son remained involved with the troop, and in fact clarified with the advancement chair if 1) it fulfilled his 6-month requirement (and at the time he was told it did, as he'd already completed 9+ months) and 2) if it was ok to have the APL take over, who was happy to do it.  

Things come up. Another boy in our troop stepped down from PL because he had an opportunity to travel overseas with his parents for 3 months.  Did that demonstrate that he "didn't care?"  

High school is short.  No one says scouting has to be the end-all, be-all of commitments.  If he'd left the troop high and dry, I'd agree.  But we have the paper trail to prove he didn't (and that he in fact went to meetings as often as he could).

Thank you all for your kind words and chiming in.  Even for the not-so-kind words and assumptions, as I know there are many people who feel that the EBOR Under Disputed Circumstances is a "cheat" or work around for parents to get a kid through.

A little context...

After the "nuclear option" of disputed circumstances, council recommended that we find an outside Eagle Coach from another troop.  The coach we worked with had more than 50 eagles under his belt, and told us there was no reason why my son should have been denied/delayed.  Our troop leadership's primary argument was that because our troop uses 1-year leadership terms and my son had to resign after 9 months because of sports commitments.  Leadership insisted that because he didn't fulfill a full term, he needed to do an additional three months of service (despite the leadership requirement being 6 months). They, too, said that the "be active" admonition was not met, but since it was never defined by our troop (and since our troop records were woefully inaccurate - with my son showing them photos on his phone from camping events they claimed he didn't attend), that was moot.   The troop leadership wanted my son to serve 3 additional months in a leadership role before an EBOR.

During our meeting with the troop leadership and council, the council rep said their points were not a legitimate reason to delay the EBOR, but given the bad blood, we still pursued the Disputed Circumstances route with the other coach. 

My son did choose to have an EBOR at our church, and we sent invitations to everyone in the troop.  We had about half the boys show, but none from my son's year (the former SM's son and Committee Chair's twins didn't show.)  In fact, our SM didn't even bother to attend, despite our clearing the date with the troop leadership two months in advance.  Disappointing, truly.  But a life lesson that you will never regret taking the high road.

In fact, my son purchased a second mentor pin to give one to his coach and one to the scoutmaster, but we returned it.  Oh, and I requested a few letters from senators and presidents, but only the ones my son wanted.  They're nice for the baby book, so sue me.  

My son has a year left in scouting, and while I think the experience of standing up for your beliefs and what is right (even against people you respect) is important, it has definitely colored his feelings about our specific troop.  He will be camping this summer with another troop at an entirely separate campground.

Thanks for your time, I hope this helps clarify some things.

Hello - 

My son recently achieved his Eagle Rank after a dustup in his troop resulting in us pursuing an EBOR under Disputed Circumstances. The process worked exactly as it should - council got involved and he achieved his rank.  

The problem we're facing is planning his Court of Honor.  The other 3 scouts in the troop opted for a COH during the troop's regular courts of honor, not a separate thing.  My son wants to have a larger event with friends, family, etc.  

Obviously, there's bad feelings with leadership, us and my son.  No letters have been requested for him, nobody picked up his credentials, etc.  

Has anyone had experiences with planning a COH like this?  We still want the troop involved and everyone from the troop will be invited.