Eagle Ceremony

[donert]

Does the Eagle Scout have to get the SM's OK on his Eagle Scout ceremony?

[sst3rd]

Yes.

[Lisabob]

I don't know for sure the answer to your question, although I suspect it is "no." But looking at your previous posts, it seems you are the SM in question - yes? If that's true, why wouldn't you want to give your approval to this young man?

[John-in-KC]

Gotta love questions that have no background.

 

I'm with Lisa on this one. The ECOH belongs to the Scout and his family. If they want to do it with a friends and family picnic in a public park, and invite a family friend to give the Eagle Charge, it's their call.

[Beavah]

Yah, I had to look back at other posts, too.

 

foxy, it seems like you've just got a lot goin' on with leadership/adult behavioral issues in your unit. You're goin' to drive yourself nuts and possibly do damage if yeh get in a twitter over each and every problem. Identify the most serious issue, and address it. Take issues one at a time. Be content for slow, gradual improvement, some of which won't happen until a few people age out and move on.

 

In that scheme of things, a kid's Court of Honor probably isn't the right hill to dig a trench, have a shootout, and die on, eh? Better to go along, nudge things where you can, and spend your effort on more important stuff.

 

In a more general way, there seem to be two ways of handlin' ECOH's out there. One is that it's put together by the troop, the same as any other COH. Troop youth leaders plan and run the ceremony (with input from the boy and his family), and the SM advises and keeps an eye on things. It is the troop's ceremony, and the boy and his family are guests of honor.

 

The second way of handlin' it is that the troop goes "hands off" on ECOH's, and turfs all of the planning to the parents of the Eagle. They select the venue, they plan their own ceremony and invite who they want, they provide all refreshments, etc. It is the family's ceremony, and the other boys and adult leaders who are invited are props.

 

Both have advantages and disadvantages. Of da two, I prefer the first. It reflects more what's really happenin' - an organization is presenting a person with an award. Just like HS graduation, eh? The school runs the ceremony; the kids and families are guests of honor. If they want to have a party afterward for family and friends, that's theirs. Havin' the troop run the ceremony also keeps a handle on three things that I hate to see: 1) Something inappropriate at the ceremony (like not invitin' a scout that the boy didn't like, etc.), 2) Pushy parents runnin' roughshod over the boy's wishes, and 3) "Keepin' up with the Joneses" wedding-like ceremonies, where some parents spend lavishly but others can't afford that kind of Social Event. The latter I find particularly distasteful.

 

Beavah

 

[donert]

Beavah.

I like your first Coh plans and your right, their are more important issues to clear first in the troop with the adults. The first real damaging one is the Troop Committee for instance an assistant scoutmaster is the treasurer, the COR sits in the meetings and votes, the unit commissioner sits in on the meetings and votes, too many "dual positions" in the Troop to work against poor me, the Scoutmaster that has no say in anything.......

[OldGreyEagle]

You say the scoutmaster has no say in anything, yet the reason for the thread is that the person who has no say is the one who has to approve an Eagle Court of Honor, is at the surface contradictory. What is your role in the Troop? Can you give any background?

[John-in-KC]

usedtobeafox,

 

The COR has every right to sit in on a Troop Committee meeting and vote. In fact, all by himself, he has 51% of the vote. He is the direct representative of the licensee of record of Scouting, the Chartered Partner. You, as the Program Officer, should have a direct working relationship with both the CC and the COR. You should be sharing with them vision (yours and the PLCs) as well as implementation.

 

BTW, if a unit runs well, a COR should never have to vote his majority share.

 

You, as SM, have the authority to talk with your CC and say "you need Jack as a Treasurer more than I need him as an ASM. Let's lock him in as Treasurer, I will recruit and train additional ASMs."

 

The only place where I see issue is your UC sitting and voting. Now, if your UC is out of your own pool of leaders, that's an issue for the DC and his assignment of Commissioners. OTOH, if your UC is participating as a voting member on the Committee, and he's not of the unit, then that justifies a gentle talk with him or his ADC.

 

Being an SM requires a certain amount of iron courage, to stand up for what is right... for the sake of the youth members of our program!