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When thinking about Eagle Scout advancement …
.. we ought to ask “what is an Eagle Scout?” rather than “who deserves to be an Eagle Scout?”
The answer to the question “who deserves to be an Eagle Scout?” is easy; any Scout who completes the requirements.
That’s it. No more and no less.
There’s no Eagle-plus, and no Eagle minus, only Eagle.
When you understand that Eagle Scout Advancement becomes less stressful.
None of the 55,494 Eagle badges handed out last year went to a Scout because they deserved it, but because they earned it.
Nobody becomes and Eagle Scout because they deserve it, it’s not the Nobel or the Pulitzer prize handed out to a few deserving winners. You don’t win Eagle Scout, you advance towards it. When a Scout fulfills all of the requirements and passes a duly constituted board of review they receive the award.
It was not my job to decide who deserves the badge, only to recognize they have completed the requirements.
The 55,494 Scouts who earned their Eagle last year did not do precisely the same quality or quantity of work. They were not all equally meritorious. Each had individual limitations and talents. Each had parents and worked with Scouters whose involvement and skill were all over the map.
A healthy percentage of them left a lot of work until the last few months of their seventeenth year.
When we present a Scout with an Eagle badge we recognize two things – achievement and potential. We are telling a Scout that what you have achieved is a strong indication you have potential to embody the ideals the award represents.
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I have known a district Advancement Chair who did not think that 14 year olds were “mature” enough to become Eagle Scouts, so he would not allow these scouts to apply. He would tell them to go do OA for a year, or serve as ASPL for a year, and then come apply, even though the scouts had done all the requirements and finished the Eagle Project. This is the worst of the unwritten requirements, and I am sure has deflated the enthusiasm of many a scout of this age, who worked hard to get to the award.
But I have also heard of a scout whose dad was the merit badge councilor for all of his badges, and carried his son through all his rank advancement. This scout came to an Eagle Board of Review and basically did not know any scouting skills, did not remember the work on his badges, and did not really care. Very sad. They did not sign his Eagle application.
It is easy to find examples like this, unfortunately. In the examples you state the advancement chair, and whoever allowed the Scout in question to advance without dealing with the situation, creating an ambush where they wouldn’t sign his Eagle application are equally wrong.
Not only is it confusing and frustrating – is that each council will REJECT a Scout who has left a council and moved to another – and they expect the Scout to do it according to unpublished requirements that the council has put on top of earning the rank.
Sure there is advice – and 100% of it is wrong. The only person who can correctly say what is needed is the Eagle Chairman.
I will also say this – we also have adults who believe the rules do not apply to any Scout who has done nothing for 3 years prior – including show up – and in the last 60 days think he can finish his 90 day merit badges.
I have been a district advancement chair for 11 years. While I am personally opposed at a Scout going for an ES B of R at age 13, I follow the GTA-17 and would not stand in the way if a Scout requested a board at age 13. This instance has occurred only once during my tenure. The Scout was intelligent, had an outgoing personality, and knew what his life’s ambitions were going to be. Unfortunately, he broke his neck in a freak accident and didn’t come for an Eagle board until he was 14. Scout leaders in my district are aware of my feelings about 13 year olds earning the ES rank and most agree. However, if a Scout’s life style is in line with the 3 AIM’s of the Scouting movement, by all means I will always be supportive of the Scout. As Chris Hunt (editor of the GTA, now retired) explained to us at Philmont during an advancement conference, don’t try and interpret what is stated in the GTA, read the sentences and do no more and no less than what is written. If we all did that, there would be more consistency amongst those of us that deal with Scout advancement on a daily basis.
I am confused by your comment. On the one hand you advise following the letter of the GTA, but you also state things that are in direct conflict with what you advise.
No matter how you feel or the number of Scouters who agree with you there is simply no age requirement other than being less than eighteen and more than 10 1/2. The GTA sates unequivocally “A Scout shall not be denied this opportunity. When he believes he has completed all the requirements for a rank, including a Scoutmaster conference, a board of review must be granted.” There is no provision for judging “if a Scout’s life style is in line with the 3 AIM’s of the Scouting movement” as a prerequisite for extending or denying your support.
I fully understand that if a Scout feels he has met the requirements for the rank, he is entitled to a B of R. (I have convened and conducted two such disputed boards of review.) We can agree on that. What I have always had a problem with is the watered down method BSA wants used when conducting a B of R. I speak specifically in regards to para. 8.0.1.1. How do Eagle B of R members know if a Scout knows first aid or knots or how to build a shelter if you do not ask? You cannot assume the Scout knows without asking. I ask a Scout what are the 3 AIMS that BSA wants to instill in their youth members, and I get a look like a deer in headlights. They have no idea what I am talking about. Do I not pass a Scout because he does not know this, no. But I assure you it becomes a teaching moment during the board of review. If a Scout makes it to a B of R, he is 99 % assured of being passed. Back in the day, an Eagle Scout Board of Review meant something to a boy. Now, if he just shows up, he’s likely to be passed. And, he doesn’t even have to wear a Scout uniform to his board! But as you have pointed out, last year 55,494 Scouts appeared for a board and 999% in all likelihood, passed. Most have probably left Scouting for other opportunities. Due to decisions made at the national level since 2013, no wonder BSA is losing membership. I’m not stepping down yet, as I hope the movement will have better days ahead. Clarke, thanks for this forum and allowing me to rant. I feel better already. I’m already making plans to conduct my 184th and 185th ES Boards of Review.
Rant away , it helps sometimes.
The GTA does not describe a ‘watered down” board of review. Many boards have become tests of a Scouts skill or knowledge, and that is simply not what a board of review is intended to determine. The BOR is an assessment of two things – the Scouts growth, and the effectiveness of the unit’s job in helping them grow.
Scouts do not pass or fail boards of review because there is no passing or failing involved. Scouts complete boards of review.
Every individual skill and bit of knowledge is tested before the requirements are signed.
I don’t care if an Eagle candidate can tie a square knot or knows what there three aims are, none of that is important because they were all a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
I want to know something of the candidate’s character, and see they have the potential to live out the challenge of being an Eagle Scout.
That they are sitting at the BOR table tells me 75% of what I need to know, the rest I can find out in 30 minutes of convivial discussion.
“Back in the day” we rode horses and ate hot gravel for breakfast.
Things have changed since then, and that’s good because they needed to change. I can guarantee you thirty years ago when I first because a Scoutmaster some old dude said “Eagle used to mean something to a boy, now they just hand them out like candy”, well I didn’t buy it then and I won’t buy it now. When we get a little older we see things and know things we didn’t know back in the day, so what’s changed is more likely our perspective than the youth we serve.