Boy Scouts see a small membership uptick after rebrand to Scouting America

IRVING, Texas (AP) — A historic rebrand of the Boy Scouts of America has been followed by a small uptick in young people joining what will now be called Scouting America, a welcoming sign as the organization tries to move past scandal and bankruptcy.

The group will continue leaning into a broad message of inclusivity as it celebrates its 115th birthday Saturday, president and CEO Roger Krone said. He acknowledged some backlash to the rebrand after it was announced last year but described the overall response as a positive one that generated wider interest.

“The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it,” Krone said.

Although the overall gain in membership was small — about 16,000 new scouts, up less than 2% from the prior year — it is still encouraging for the organization after participation plummeted during the pandemic. The organization has just over 1 million members.

Krone said Cub Scouts, the youngest scouting level, saw an increase of almost 3%.

Although the majority of scouts are still boys, over 196,000, girls participated in Scouting America’s programs last year. More than 8,000 girls have earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

The name change will officially take effect during the weekend birthday celebration, when sites across the U.S. will be illuminated in red, white and blue, including Niagara Falls and the Empire State Building. A redesigned flag with the Scouting America brand will be raised next week at headquarters in the Dallas suburb of Irving.

The rebrand is among momentous events the tradition-steeped organization has seen over the last decade, including its 2020 bankruptcy filing amid a flood of claims from tens of thousands of people — mainly men — who said they were abused as young scouts.

Also, the organization began allowing gay youth in 2013 and ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015. And in 2017 it announced that girls would be accepted as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program — renamed Scouts BSA — in 2019.

The organization's $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan took effect in 2023, allowing it to keep operating while compensating sexual abuse survivors. Over 82,000 people filed abuse claims during the bankruptcy case.

To fund the survivors’ settlement trust, which has started making payouts, campgrounds and other properties have been sold, along with works of art including Norman Rockwell paintings depicting idyllic scenes featuring Boy Scouts.

Krone said the organization is working to digitize all its materials, creating a platform that will also allow for programs to be made multilingual. That, for instance, could help a parent who doesn't speak English follow along with their scout, he said.

Wally Tirado, who works closely with scouts in the Dallas area through a Scouting America leadership group, said the diversity among youth members was evident at a recent dinner honoring new Eagle Scouts. He called it a “room full of cultures" from around the world.

“It’s still the same program,” said Tirado, a district commissioner in the Circle Ten Council. “Just because we changed our name doesn’t mean we changed what we do.”