Cburkhardt

Eagle1993:  My views on Scouts BSA Troops for Girls regard program quality and feasibility at the unit level.  What specifically are the "drastic changes" you seek?  I'm guessing you are focused on the above-unit levels. 

Most of the conversation in these postings regards two questions:  “Is what our lodges do with regard to the depiction of Native American culture ever going to be accepted by the larger Native American community?”  And:  “Is the continued engagement by youth members of the Order of the Arrow in the representation of Native American culture fundamental to the achievement of BSA goals?  The answer to both questions is no. 

It is impossible to envision a time when Native American communities will broadly accept the depiction of their culture by our young people through costumed depictions of people or related ceremonial language.  It is just not going to happen from this point forward in our nation’s history.  Respectful study of the Native Americans of the past and present sound like activities that would be respected or encouraged, but not the depictions of their ancestors or contemporaries – no matter how authentic the costuming or perfected the language.

Depictions by our youth members of Native Americans and their culture is entirely unnecessary to maintain an honor camping and service organization.  The BSA can look within its own history and nature itself to find countless non-offensive concepts that can bind together an organization and inspire its most-qualified youth members.

OA cannot survive perpetual controversy and reasonable objections over continuing a now-obsolete activity of having our youth depict Native Americans.  It does violence to our effort to engage more young people in the OA and in Scouting itself.  We would be foolish to continue non-core practices that require us to “explain ourselves” to broad audiences of offended people.

After twenty years of unnecessary battle over cultural issues, we need peace and tranquility to recover organizational health.  We need to focus on reestablishing broad societal acceptance of Scouting as a safe, uplifting and appropriate activity for young people in our country. 

The lack of mid-course corrective suggestions tells me BSA is using a great approach with the all-girl Scouts BSA troops.  I’ll admit I struggled a bit to come up with the above suggestions I made.  We just need to keep with the current approach and do more of it — just like with the boy troops.

The principal thought about Scouts BSA for girls is that it is so dramatically different as a program from GSUSA at the 11-18 age group that we are not in competition with them.  I do not believe the girls in our troop would be happy in a GSUSA unit because they are looking for the rigorous and frequent outdoor programming we offer.  
 

I recall being shocked by the fighting words used by their national leadership when we first opened to girls.  They have not been harmed by our program opening to girls and I was surprised they were not more confident in their own offerings at the time.  In my view, the weak trademark lawsuit was a mistake, and the judge agreed by dismissing the case.

I wish them well because they do good works for children.  However, I don’t anticipate they will ever be interested in encouraging their people to engage jointly with us.  Just think about the benefits their children could obtain at our high adventure bases and at our most-thrilling council long term camps (Ten Mile, Goshen, Owasippe, etc.).  Their approach disadvantages their own girls.

Unit Level.  Adapt unit web sites to more directly explain the relevance of Scouts BSA to girls.  Form advisory committees of outstanding women in the community who can present as role models during unit meetings.  Target and recruit outdoorswomen from the community to join the Troop Committee.

Council Level.  Assure long term camp bathroom facilities are better managed.  There is some youthful teasing of Scouts entering and exiting these facilities.  This should include entirely separate facilities.  Task commissioners to work with girl troops on growth, including organizational and operations approaches that work especially well for girl troops.  Focus on one-patrol troops who need help in scaling-up.

National.  Encourage formation of more “stand alone” troops which are not linked with boy troops.  Establish merit badges in topic areas of widespread interest to girls.  Examples could include ballet, sports and hobby endeavors popular with girls, fashion industry, and interior design (many of these appeal to boys as well).  Update marketing materials to reflect that a girl who chooses Scouts BSA is not making a “new” or “alternative” choice.  Focus girl-specific marketing on outdoor programming to take advantage of BSA’s superior offerings and position in the marketplace.  Emphasize outdoor experiences girls have in a Scouts BSA troop that they can’t get in other organizations, including other all-girl organizations.  Position Scouts BSA for Girls as the best option for a girl in the minds of girls and parents – we need to respond to the approaches of other organizations.  The time to be openly proud of what we have accomplished in our girl troops is now.

What suggestions do you have to upgrade the Scouts BSA program for girls?  This can include operational matters at the unit and council level, as well as suggested program  or management changes at the national level.    

I used to think there were two things that one could never change in Scouting:  our properties and OA.  That is really not true.  Evolving these aspects of Scouting does happen in a positive manner when the first and final analysis prioritizes the best interests of our young people.

The regularly-involved unit leader perspective is that OA is “twisting in the wind” with regard to its long term role and continuing relevance.  This is solely because the controversial aspects of the program have not yet been processed.  I can see why this is so, because we have all been dealing with so many fundamental issues these past years that to process OA’s programmatic difficulties might have been too much.  But letting these issues hang out there is a problem, and we need to clear ourselves of these problems so we can recover our overall organizational effectiveness.

Organizations need program elements and narratives to bind them together.  It is a fact of life that organizations using Native American customs and history for this are attacked and sued until the practices end.  The broad social rejection of this is not going to reverse.  If the purpose of the OA was to teach Native American customs or history, we would have a big problem.   But that is not its purpose.  An honor organization for Scouting that promotes camping and cheerful service is not forever reliant upon the current narratives to thrive.

Asking adults who are motivated to continue as-is to determine what should bind the OA together does not sound like a good process.  Rather, a special task force overwhelmingly dominated by our young members can be guided to resolve these matters within a concentrated time frame.

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The program belongs to the young adults who are involved.  We cannot go wrong by letting them take the lead on what form the Order of the Arrow needs to take in the future.  That is how the seemingly unresolvable challenge of evolving this program can be effectively handled.

In the 1970s I was influenced greatly and had possibilities in life expanded through peer and adult examples I was able to observe while serving as a Chapter Chief and in in multiple Lodge offices.  I was ceremonies chair and led an honorable dance team with advice from local Native Americans for several years as a young adult.  I dearly loved and respected what I knew of the culture of the Native Americans, even though with the passage of time I have come to realize that we were engaging in an earnest, well-intended re-creation of a life we knew little of.  Imagination and memory cause me to recall something that was more authentic and respectful that it actually was.  I benefitted immensely from my OA experience in many practical ways.  However, the extensive use of Native American lore and the intricate wording of the ceremonies adapted from other organizations did not provide these benefits.  It was the exposure to people, leadership challenges above the unit level and the chance to provide service in broader ways that advantaged me.

The BSA has gone through 20 years of harsh times, overwhelmingly due to some of our members and leaders insisting on factors and practices that were not fundamental to the purposes of the BSA, and not essential to provide positive outcomes for our young adult members.  Going through all of that was awful and significantly damaged our organization.  As we emerge from that period of awfulness, we need peace and normality so we can fully recover our organizational health and mission effectiveness.

As an adult leader of two successful units, I support letting our young people guide the way as to what is important to them to experience above the unit level in an OA-style honor program.  I am not supportive of a public battle to preserve certain aspects of OA that are not fundamental to what we are trying to achieve – no matter how beloved or compelling to any adult Scouters.  I can assure you that none of the 90 youth, 180 parents and 60 adult leaders in my units will line-up to defend the continuation of practices that will renew or extend  BSA controversy.          

Girls participating in Scouts BSA love the program and it serves them well when troops are well run.  I’m glad that does not seem to be questioned in the comments.  So, it is really a matter of market penetration to establish, maintain and grow quality girl troops.  We can do that effectively during the next five or so years as we continue to recover from – well – just about everything that has challenged the BSA these last twenty years.

We can’t expect in four years to have developed the deep bench of leaders who have a particular interest in forming and supporting girl troops – especially women who have outdoor skills and an interest in being engaged in the program for the long run.  I will share a very hopeful (and unscientific) observation of women scouters present at a recent annual OA lodge banquet I attended for one of the largest lodges in the country.  The place was packed with about 400 people, including a very large representation of women scouters.  Anyone could tell they were deeply engaged in the program and among the most enthused Scouts BSA leaders.  This aligns with my own girl troop experience, where we are now attracting outdoorswomen leaders who do not have a child in the troop.  Further, mothers are remaining involved as leaders even after their daughters graduate and head to college.  My hope is that this is an indication that we are indeed building the adult leadership infrastructure that will help build bigger and better girl troops over time.  We all need to extend an effective a welcome to these female leaders. 

As for the GSUSA, I don’t know much about their program but do understand their business model.  It seems to be effective at recruiting both girls (and their mothers) at the early elementary ages.  Starting a GSUSA unit seems easier and requires fewer resources that a BSA unit.  Their financial model is dependent on product sales to fund the entire organization from local to national – and they seem to be successful at it in terms of dollars raised. 

Based on my observations of the 11-year-old girls and families that arrive at our troop, and what these people say about their GSUSA experiences, the GSUSA program model seems less successful at the Scouts BSA age.  Our Troop is direct about our outdoor emphasis and regularity of program offerings, and this is what causes these girls to join Scouts BSA.  The GSUSA has outdoor programming, but our families tell us there is a dramatic difference in the quality and quantity of outdoor experiences.  The same applies to youth leadership training.

I’m happy the GSUSA has a strong organization in our area and serves so many girls.  At the Scouts BSA level I just don’t think we are in competition with them or ever will be.  The programs at the Scouts BSA ages are just entirely different from each other and have different desired outcomes.  My impression is that GSUSA is very satisfied with their program for older girls and are not likely to adopt BSA-style practices.  I don’t have well-developed thoughts about the Cub Scout age level, where it seems more likely that there may be a sense of competition for girl members. 

While there might be advantages in working cooperatively, the GSUSA prohibits its volunteers and troops to work with us.  My conclusion is that we will continue to exist as separate organizations that will have minimal dealings with each other.    

The impacts of adding Scouts BSA troops for girls and Cub Scout dens for girls have been tremendously positive in the lives of involved young women.

My observation these past five years is that our Scouting program in all of its aspects (outdoor, advancement, leadership, etc.) impacts girls just as significantly and positively as boys.  I have seen the very techniques that have proven so effective with boys work as well with girls without modification.  Girls who reach First Class receive a boost in capability unsurpassed by any other program experience for girls.  I have seen them do better academically in school, better socially among their non-scouting friends and far beyond their age peers in leadership-oriented activities outside Scouting.  The girls that achieve the upper ranks (especially Eagle) obtain an uber-confidence and poise that seem to propel them far beyond their age peers.  

In terms of leadership, we offer something to girls that is simply not available elsewhere in the youth services environment – to be truly in leadership of a large, sophisticated organization – with all of the successes, fails, pressures, high-stakes challenges and other dynamics we are all familiar with.  They become more organized, listen better, planning-oriented, kind and develop a keen capability to resolve conflicts.

I have no doubt that at least 5-10 young women who have gone through the leadership program of our large troop and NYLT-style instruction are going to have significantly higher-achieving leadership-oriented careers than they otherwise would have had precisely because of Scouts BSA.  The experiences available through other organizations would just not have opened their eyes and provided the right challenge to them.  What we offer is just as unique and rigorous for girls as for boys – so we should not be surprised when we see these young women soar in their family, school and career lives.  Some of these individuals will go on to have meaningful and positive impacts on our society. 

I have not observed negative impacts on boys or girls related to girls engagement in Scout BSA programming.  The over-the-top warnings that boys would somehow be denied the benefits of Scouting because of girls proved to be all talk and no reality.

In short, participation by girls in Scouts BSA has made them more kind, smart, confident, leader-like, and educated.  They do better socially in their families and peer groups.  The impacts we seek for boys in Scouting are being achieved for girls.  We have succeeded.  We need to understand and gladly accept this success.

On 12/23/2022 at 8:52 PM, mrjohns2 said:

So, so true. Our girl troop's bones started in September of 2018. We had committee meetings and had about 6 girls recruited by February 2019.  

The key to our early success wasn't the great scoutmaster (me), it was the fact that a very very experienced Scouter "came out of retirement" to be our committee chair. He was grounded in the program and being Scout led. I was an experienced Scout, but out of the program for 25 years or so. He mentored me to be a great SM. Communicated in advance that he would serve 2 years and step down. I took on the CC and an ASM took on SM. 

This meeting after meeting mentoring was so key. 

We have 18 Scouts, on the way to 20 in March. We are loosely linked with a boy troop. We share the same building and night and chartering org. We do some schedule coordination. We want to have common policies, but it is taking longer than planned (refunds, scout accounts, etc.). 

Mr. John's2:  What have been the key determinants of the good quality of your girl troop's program?  What in your view causes your girl members to stay active with your troop?  Do the girls have the same level and frequency of opportunities that the boys do?

Altadena:  I'll bet over 90% of our girl members in Scouts BSA are in linked troops, so please do not take my observations as "anti-linked" in any way.  It sounds like your two troops are doing a great job of operating the linked concept as it was envisioned.  My first question on evaluating the presence of girls in Scouts BSA focuses on the roll-out process, and my key observation is that those who rolled-out the program focused almost exclusively on forming linked units.  The stand-alone troops I am aware of were formed without much (if any) assistance from district or council folks.  I think more stand alone units might have been formed if the work plan was not so narrowly focused.  Everyone will be interested in hearing about your experiences on the interaction between your girl and boy members in the separate troops.  Early in the process there were some real "over the top" comments that any interaction whatsoever would "ruin" the entire program for the boys.  I don't observe that to be the case when our girls informally interact with boy troops at summer camp and at camporees.  I encourage you to post such comments or others about your fine troops in response to Question #2 (unit quality).     

I like Ducktape’s idea of engaging in an effort to recruit adult unit leaders not necessarily related to one of the youth members.  3 of our 11 ASMs are such people and are among our strongest participants.  They all have previous Scouting experience and have significantly upgraded the quality of the member experience.

This reminds me of something our committee did when I was a council VP for the old Exploring program (which previously combined the current Venturing and Exploring programs into one program unit).  We visited Chartered Organizations and asked them to identify adults to be unit leaders and commissioners (the old Exploring program referred to their specialized commissioners as Service Team members).  Surprisingly, the effort worked.  We had special group training for these people at a nice location and served meals and refreshments.  That was 30 years ago and some of those people are still involved.  

People out there are interested in helping our young members.  We are past the horrible disputes over social issues and nearing the fresh breath we will have when the bankruptcy appeal has concluded.  Ducktape is correct — we need to invite adults back into Scouting.  

A few thoughts on my second question:

Outdoor Program.  The Scouts BSA troops for girls in our district offer good outdoor program for girls.  All three troops do monthly campouts and summer camp.  All three have good representation of strong outdoorswomen among their scoutmasters, which I believe makes a huge difference (and is required by YPT).  All have participated in district camporees at a credible level.  What is good about this is how unremarkable and mainstream the outdoor program is in these all-girl troops.  The early speculation that all-girl units would go “glamping” and engage in other watered-down outdoor experiences never materialized.

High Adventure.   Two of our units have sent scouts to our high adventure bases.  It took a couple of years to ramp-up the skills of the scouts involved, but our Troop will now send a group somewhere every summer.

Unit Size.  Except for a few, the all-girls troops are generally smaller, meaning under 15 youth members.  This means the more-advanced scouts may have less program opportunity and belong to units where there a fewer fully-engaged adults.  Unless resolved over time, this means the troop program will ultimately be of lesser quality than what we can offer.  It also makes these units more fragile.  In the linked-troop units, this has led to some “small girl patrol in the big boy troop” situation, which generally leads to poor membership experiences for the girls.

Having Fun.  Girls in our troops tell us that they appreciate the open welcome our program offers, especially in comparison to school groups and other girl-focused activities where group social dynamics can become upsetting.  Girls work out their personal differences within patrols in a manner I have come to understand does not happen as easily in school.  As a result, the program of the troop is especially attractive to them.  We have very good meeting attendance, which I partially attribute to this.

Adult Leadership.  This has been tough in the smaller girl units.  We do not yet have a long history of female participation, so I find myself needing to work longer and harder to recruit female committee members and scoutmasters.  Overall, this seems to be a program challenge for all-girl troops.

Question Two:  Do girl members of Scouts BSA experience quality programming?  Share specific facts from what you have observed about local all-girl troops.

I encourage everyone to approach this by putting yourselves in the shoes of these scouts and sharing what you see working or not working for them in your nearby all-girl Scouts BSA troops.

Full Sash of Merit Badges.   In our four years we have had only one youth member like this.  While she did not earn every badge, she earned most of them over four years.  She is an outstanding Scout who prioritizes her scouting experiences over other extracurricular activities and is simply deeply entrenched in the program.

Blanket Extension.  I've already stated my view that it was unnecessary for the roll-out and caused those of us then-forming the all-girl units an unnecessary complication.    I speculate that it might have been devised as a PR move.  It might also have been a response to some individual legal situations.  While unnecessary, I don't think it was a significant roll-out problem. 

I hope one of our readers who has a firm grasp on membership numbers could discuss the big picture on the membership decline.  There is such a tangle of issues that will have contributed to the decline (especially the bankruptcy and its many impacts)  that I am unable to authoritatively opine on whether adding all girl dens/troops was a net membership add or subtraction.  All I can do is share my actual experience as a “big troop” scoutmaster

When we started four years ago, we were the only girl troop in our district. We were not always welcomed and I personally absorbed a lot of negative comment from a select group of uber-traditionalists.  When I took 24 girls to summer camp for the first time, the leaders of the troop next door openly despised us and me personally and continuously registered unjustified, piddling  complaints.  Our girls were sometimes harassed in their merit badge classes.  Despite this, we came in as runner-up for troop of the week and won the camp-wide games — and none of that was my doing.  The youth just organized themselves well.

Four years down the road all of that is a distant memory.  All of the traditionalists are still there  and we (and 2 additional girl troops) are still growing.  They have accepted us because they see the success.  My speculation is that there were few who left our movement because “somewhere out there is an all-girl troop participating in our program”.   None of our district’s troops folded or downsized as a result (although some were lost through COVID or churches upset about the bankruptcy).  The overwhelming bulk of criticism about girl troops I read in the media (and I read every article) came from outside the BSA.  This was mainly from columnists who inaccurately proclaimed we were fully co-ed, former members who were part of Trail Life, and leaders of GSUSA above the unit level.  The media firestorm over girls is long over and the only remaining discussion is now confined to hyper-bitter commentary from anti-BSA folks on mostly-unread corners of social media.
 

My speculation is that the effect of adding girl dens and troops has not caused a membership loss and probably netted us a gain.  Last summer girls comprised about 1/6 of the youth participating during our week.  That has to mean something positive.

Girl Attention Spans.  Our stand-alone, all-girl Troop uses longer meeting times as a result of focus groups we conducted with parents during the roll-out four years ago.  Our practical experience is that our girl members will participate over lengthy periods of time.  Even after two hours they regret ending the meetings.  That was not my experience in all-boy troops.  I think the best course is to do what works for your unit and in our case these longer meetings are more satisfying to the girls and families.

Saturday Morning Meetings.  During the roll-out we surveyed the families and found in our area that girls had fewer programmatic conflicts on Saturday mornings and that transiting to and from meetings was thought to be much safer.  This is important for us because some of our members take public transit and do not want to be taking subways home at 9:30 PM on a weeknight.  While off-topic, we found the same preference on the part of my Sea Scout families (I am also a Skipper).  Our teenage Ship members prefer to avoid the neighborhood “toughs” that populate neighborhoods at night.  The bad guys sleep in late on Saturday mornings and are nowhere to be seen.  Our parents like the 2 hours of free time to run Saturday morning errands while their daughters are with us.

Working with GSUSA.   I dislike the hostility between the organizations but believe the conflict and dislocation that would result by forcing a solution would be outweighed by the good the separate organizations can achieve being left alone.  We have all survived a decade of severe upheaval and need to return to a sense of peaceful operations.  For the Scouts BSA age group, our unit operations business model works much better and I would not want to adopt their approach.

Is “Linked” Model Effective?  HashTagBSA raises many great issues about the disadvantages of the linked model.  In my view, the principal things good about the linked approach are that: (1)  it accommodates in one unit families that have a son and daughter, and  (2) it is easier to form a linked girl troop than start a stand-alone unit like our Troop.  The roll-out focused nearly exclusively on forming linked units, resulting in many of these “girls in one small patrol” situations.  I’ll repeat my preference:  stand-alone all-girl units are better in almost every way.  The practical result based on my unscientific observations is that stand-alone units a bigger, better run and offer the same program in organizational formats that simply work better.  When a Chartered Organization and Scouters make commitments to form and staff a stand-alone Scouts BSA Troop for Girls, they are making a very clear commitment to providing quality program for girls.    

Any Other Thoughts on the Roll-Out? 

GSUSA sensibilities could have been handled better during the roll-out.  For example, better guidance on how to refer to our all-girl program during promotions would have helped.  Further, socially conservative persons acquired an inaccurate structural understanding of how Scouts BSA operates.  I still read conservative writers and converse with uninvolved conservative adults who vigorously claim we are a fully co-ed program.  

Qwaze:

Regarding GSUSA, I do not know the details of their program, but have regular exposure to deeply-involved adult leaders.  The GSUSA relationship and how to evolve it is a worthy subject for a significant discussion in a special thread by someone well-informed.  My summary view is that the organizational cultures, unit operations practices and internal governance/policy approaches are so fundamentally different that broad cooperation at levels above the unit are unachievable.  GSUSA rules also prohibit cooperation with BSA at the unit level.  It is difficult to start something productive under such circumstances.

Qwaze:

I agree that one horrible incident of sexual assault on a female scout might have a significant impact on female youth enrollment.  So, I am an especially strong supporter of YPT.  I used to think of myself as unusual in that regard.  Today, my practical experience in my units informs me that  almost everyone involved in Scouting is strict on YPT matters.  How could we not be, given the detailed examination of our organization failings in this regard?  I am for soldiering-on with highest vigilance on these issues and continuing to offer our program in gender segregated units.

MattR:

Our all-girl troop meets twice a month on Saturday mornings from 10 to Noon.  The PLC meets immediately before every other meeting.  The attention span of girls this age allows us to cover the program, in addition to our monthly campouts.  The remaining “free” Saturday each month is often when optional service projects, hikes and other activities take place.

Thanks everyone for the great comments.  And for the rest of you, please consider contributing to this month-long series of conversations.  Here are some reactions to the thoughts shared.  They are primarily based on my personal experience in founding an all-girl Cub Scout den, which became a feeder that helped form our all-girls Scout BSA Troop for Girls in February, 2019.  We have 50 girls, a 14-member Scoutmaster staff and reasonably active number of parents and Troop committee members.  We have done summer camp every year, sent two crews to Philmont this year and have had five Eagles so far.  We are a stand-alone girls Troop, meaning we are not linked to a boy troop and are the only Scouting organization at our Chartered Organization.

18-Month Eagles.  My comment is limited to the temporary transition rule which provided that any girl (or boy) who first joined Scouts BSA then was given an automatic extension of up to 18 months beyond their 18^th birthday.  This led to a bubble of older youth who were pressing hard to finish within the 18 month extension.  It just presented a deforming situation at the very time we were starting a new unit.  Our Troop had only one of these circumstances, which culminated in an aggressive parent yelling at me in front of the younger girls because I was unwilling to drop everything else and become a personal advancement concierge to her desperate 19-year-old daughter.  Thankfully they left the Troop.  Our five Eagles have fully earned their medals in a traditional manner.

Linked Troops.  The linked all-girl troops I am personally aware of are all small (about 8-15 girls) and don’t seem able to offer the full program.  Some function largely independent of the boy troops, but most seem to engage in some joint activities – such as campouts.  The appearance to an outsider is that they function as girl patrols in a larger boy troop – and just continue to do the program the boy troop has always done.  I am aware of only one linked-troop situation in the council that seems fully co-ed in operation.  There are only a few non-linked troops in the council like ours, and these are larger and seem better run than the linked troops.  My impression is that they are larger because the troop committee and parents fully focus on the girls and conduct the troop program in a manner that reflects the abilities and preferences of girls at this age.  As examples, the all-girl troops have longer meetings (because of longer attention spans) that are not scheduled at night (avoiding walking home in the dark).  My big take-away from the entire experience is that stand-alone troops are the way to go.

Going Fully Co-Ed.  I think segregating troops by gender was the right way to go during the roll-out.  My experience these past four year is that we have achieved more for these girls under a segregated format than we would have done if co-ed.  For instance, every youth officer is female.  That provides leadership experiences for the girls without taking away from the boys.  Our parents and leaders like it this way and would not seriously entertain a change to a co-ed format.  Our scoutmaster staff would not want to deal with the boy-girl interplay either.  Going fully co-ed at the very start might have made the startup process significantly more complicated.

COVID.  I’m sure this complicated the roll-out and probably led to dropped units.  I don’t think girl troops and boy troops would have handled things any differently because of COVID.  The only real difference is that all of the girl troops were just starting when COVID hit.  Our troop continued to meet live throughout the process (outside, with masks) and doubled our tent purchase so we did not have to share tents during campouts.  We just blasted through the difficulties. 

YPT Coverage.  During the roll-out, we did not have sufficient numbers of female adults able to camp.  We spent time recruiting families with mothers who were outdoorswomen to solve the shortage.  Now we are majority female in leadership and do not have difficulties.

Here are a few thoughts on my first question.

Timing.  The starting date for all girl troops on February 1 seemed odd.  It caused us to do everything off-cycle, such as recruiting chartered organizations.  Young people usually don’t think of joining new things in February.  It required us to work harder and through the Christmas holiday for no apparent reason.

Linked Troops.  There was overwhelming encouragement by management to form all-girl Troops at chartered organizations that already had all-boy troops.  I think a great opportunity to expand Scouting to other potential chartered organizations was missed.

The Eagle Exception.  Allowing girls (and similar-aged boys) to continue working on Eagle after age 18 during the implementation transition period seemed unnecessary.  It caused a deforming “hurry-up” rush for many unit leaders who were brand-new.  Some Scouters naturally wondered whether some “18 month” Eagles truly fulfilled the letter and spirit of the requirements.

Rapidity of Decision and Announcement.  I am glad the announcement allowing all-girl troops was issued immediately after the decision was made, rather than letting things drip out.

PR and Program Materials.  These were first-class and very useful for those of us forming these new units.

Being Firm in our Direction.  I am glad BSA was unapologetic and not defensive about allowing all-girl units.  It was great to see us step forward with clarity and confidence after so many years of equivocating on social issue and trying to please everyone.