Honorary Eagle Scout???

[Frank17]

This is a new one to me. One of our local philanthropists died recently and his charitable trust has been paying out to local colleges, museums, etc.. One of the payments ($5 mil) came to our local Laurel Highlands Council. On the TV last night, the local news reported that the deceased was "an honorary eagle scout". This concerned me as I had never heard of this term and I wondered if it was some made up honor given to large monetary contributors to the BSA. If so, IMHO, it really cheapens the rank of Eagle.

 

It is possible that the news screwed up and may have meant the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, which I am familiar with and is entirely different, as it recognizes adult service (or large donations) after the person has already earned Eagle as a youth. Has anyone encountered this "honorary eagle scout" designation before?

[Frank17]

OK; I did some more research on the internet to find out more about the philanthropist, William S. Dietrich II, who made the donation. Accoring to the CMU website (one of the collges who received a substantial donation from his trust), he was: "A lifelong supporter of the Boy Scouts of America, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1955 and would later receive the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1999." If this is the case, I feel better, as I believe our local news screwed up and called it an Honorary Eagle Scout instead of Distinguished Eagle Scout. I hope this is the case.

[Eagle92]

More than likely yes. If a reporter is not familiar with the BSA, I've found that they tend tyo mess things up, even if you give them detailed info sometimes.

[shortridge]

Especially with TV reporters, you want to give them information in writing with lots of bullet points - and keep it simple. They may have only 30 or 60 seconds for the story - they don't need an explanation of ranks or levels in Cubs. They want action-oriented visuals, a good soundbite or two from a telegenic person involved and a place where they can record a standup with a good backdrop.

[BS-87]

Good to know your first assumption was that "The Council" was diminishing the rank of Eagle instead of assuming the reporter was misspeaking.

 

[SeattlePioneer]

For $5 million I would have made him an honorary Eagle Scout.

 

 

A year or so ago Bill Gates was awarded the Silver Buffalo at a well attended $100,000 a plate dinner at the Chief Seattle Council.(This message has been edited by seattlepioneer)

[SR540Beaver]

The media rarely gets any story right.

[Shriscov]

Not really on topic, but since the Eagle Scout for decades could be earned by adults, I wonder if it might be offered that way again for the centennial, sort of like how historic merit badges came back for one year.

 

[sherminator505]

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that to happen. Even if you managed to get a blanket exception to the age requirement for Eagle, you would still have to deal with the reality that it takes more than a year to make Eagle. Through that lens, the plan would be perceived as cheapening or devaluing the Eagle and the idea would die there and then.

 

That said, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a commemorative Eagle rank patch that all Eagles could wear (perhaps with a matching hat pin) (This message has been edited by sherminator505)

[John-in-KC]

There is an award granted by the National Court of Honor called "The Spirit of the Eagle."

 

The few times I have seen it awarded it was a) Posthumous (the youth member had passed away) and b) awarded when the Scout had completed the requirements for Eagle, but had not had his EBOR.

 

To non-Scouting laity, that could be construed as honorary Eagle Scout...

[ramblinrosey]

Daniel Beard rcv'd his Eagle Scout Award in 1915, which made him 65yrs old. My Dad (who had the honor of assisting Uncle Dan at several Scout functions,became an Eagle at 18ys 3 mos in 1938, there was no age limit for awhile.