Category: BSA’s future
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Abolish gold epaulets, a barrier to reform
Symbols are important to culture. Any symbol associated with national’s cultural rot needs scrutiny. Gold epaulets are an example. Representing elitism, they obstruct reform. (Epaulets, cloth devices worn on shoulder loops on uniforms, indicate the “level” of one’s role in Scouting.) Explainer: stratified by epaulet BSA’s most important adult-leader roles directly serve units, like Assistant…
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NOAC 2024 @ CU Boulder to mock Native Americans a bit less
While a baby step towards ending cultural appropriation, BSA still has a long way to go.
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Councils skipping BSA’s “good old boy” system to find competent CEOs
BSA’s employment-for-life system creates obeisant bureaucrats. Want a leader? Hire from outside.
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BSA’s CEO position is too important to be a reward for career lifers
A leader at the helm is crucial to BSA’s survival. Its career-advancement system runs off leaders, so we must hire from outside.
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The case for equity and inclusion: Ending BSA’s specious coed ban
In 2018 and 2019, BSA allowed girls into its boys-only programs. This inclusion was accompanied by a ban on coed Cub Scout dens or coed Scouts BSA troops. The coed ban is specious: It rests on misinformation and on sexist, racist, and harmful folklore. Its pile-on effects reduce youth safety, harm members, and harm the…
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UMC’s BSA shift is a blueprint, inflection, and opportunity
The United Methodist Church gave us a blueprint to ditch the obsolete chartered-organization model.