Historical links between Scouting and GLO's?
 

Just like many GLOs have a link to freemasonry. I am curious if GLOs are historically linked to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. I know SAE and APO are linked to BSA, but I don't know about the rest.

Coincidence between GS and sororities?

You get a badge.
You pay dues.
There are weekly meetings.
There is a promise and law.
There is a GS handshake.
You have ceremonies like bridging, etc.
There are colors.
We learned about our founders and our history.
Girl Scouts encourages alumni participation.
Troops normally start at schools.
You do service projects.

A Theta Chi brother (George Chapman) wrote the Order of the Arrow ritual.

One of Kappa Delta's National Philanthropies is the Girl Scouts of the USA. There is a KD badge that Girl Scouts can earn. My chapter usually holds 2 events a year with several local girl scout troupes.

Actually I think it is more a patch than an official badge (at least I haven't seen it in any of the badge/try-it/Interest Patch books that are published by GSUSA.

With regards to GS being like a sorority, to some extent it is. There is a 'secret motto', handshake, recruitment, membership pin, ceremonies that go along with getting that pin and changing levels, etc. There were even more similiarities in the early years (you can find them in the original 1913 handbook - which is REALLY neat!). I do not believe that Juliette Gordon Low was ever a member of a fraternity/sorority and Lord and Lady Baden-Powell would not have been either - but as ShaedyKD mentioned, KD is the only sorority that is officially linked to GSUSA as a national philanthropy (though I would personally like to see a lot more!).

Sarah
Field Executive
Girl Scouts of Woodland Council

My father was a member of Alpha Phi Omega in the early 1970s. At that point, you had to be an Eagle Scout in order to be in Alpha Phi Omega...that has since changed, and it is now a co-ed fraternity.

Re: Historical links between Scouting and GLO's?
 

What is the SAE connection with the BSA? Seeing as how SAE predates the BSA by over 50 years, it seems odd that there would be a connection.

Re: Re: Historical links between Scouting and GLO's?
 

Well, I won't say directly. A lot of the APO founders were SAEs.

But even if many of APO's founders were SAE's, is that a historical link between SAE and the BSA, or just between SAE and APO? If there are links with the BSA, it seems you could be able to "say directly," since the BSA doesn't have any "secrets" (except in the Order of the Arrow).

I really don't know I got this from SAEactive http://greekchat.com/gcforums/showth...ht=girl+scouts

Thanks, Dionysus -- reading through that thread was helpful.

So far as I know, the SAE/BSA link is the fact that many of the founders of APO, which started as a service fraternity for Eagle Scouts, were SAE's. I don't think there is any specific link other than that.

Probably the strongest influence on the Scouting movement has been the military. Lord Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, who founded the Scouting movement in England, was a veteran of the Boer War, and scout life follows something of a military model. One can also detect a strong influence of the writings of Rudyard Kipling on both British and American Scouting. American Scouting, of course, also draws heavily from Native American lore.

That said, I think that both Scouting and GLO's reflect the fact that young people (and not so young people) are naturally drawn to distinctive handshakes, signs and salutes, mottos, and the like as both identifying and distinguishing marks and as intangibles that encourage unity and esprit de corps. My 2 cents.

Not just Eagle Scouts, but any scouting experience.

Thanks for the correction, dardenr.

On a related note, I found on the web an article on the Scouting movement and Freemasonry: Lord Baden-Powell, Benefactor of Boyhood; B-P and Freemasonry.

For what it's worth.

There's a long story in the fall '05 Phi Gam magazine listing their ties to scouting.

Current Scouting Natl. Pres. John Cushman is a Colgate Fiji, and '96-'98 pres John Creighton is an Ohio St./Pitt Fiji.

The organizations have similar value systems and premises. At our alumnae club meetings, we often end up talking about Scouting because so many of us are Cub Scout/Girl Scout leaders. It's rather humorous really. However, I think also that the leadership skills learned in Scouting wind up making the same people active in Scouting want to be active in something similar in college and end up fraternities/sororities. They are the joiners after all.

Originally, to be a member of Omega Phi Alpha you had to have been either a Campfire Girl or a Girl Scout. That changed in 1958, before the sorority went national, but a lot of chapters still do a lot of things with these orgs.

The actives at a chapter that I was advising at the time helped a local Brownie troop complete a bunch of TryIts for a philanthropy.

I can see Girl Scouts getting involved in sororities upon college entrance. They are both all-female, self-empowering organizations that do a tremendous amount of charitable work and community service while promoting a social, fun atmosphere. Ditto with Boy Scouts and joining a fraternity.

tom lehrer
 

tom lehrer had the key to it all...the link..."be prepared."

Agreed. Although I think that Girl Scouts have sorta lost their popularity. I know they've been changing a lot of their programs to try to keep their appeal to jr high/HS young women.

One of KD's national philanthropies is the Girl Scouts, so all of our chapters work with local troops.

Re: Historical links between Scouting and GLO's?
 

As others have pointed out, there is NO link between SAE and the BSA. Yes, SOME of APO Founders were SAE Brothers, but that doesn't mean much, really.

There is a long-standing link between APO & the BSA. APO was originally established as the 'scouting fraternity'. Until 1967, you had to have current or prior involvement in scouting (any level, in any country) to join. There was NEVER a requirement to be an Eagle Scout to join. Since around 1932, the BSA has approved APO and listed the Fraternity in their many publications, and allow the Fraternity to have booths at major events like the National Jamboree and NOAC.

APO Brothers have also been involved in the BSA's 'older boy' programs, including the Order of the Arrow. The MIT chapter actually formed a semi-official group that was involved with revising the OA rituals and leading training groups on OA ceremonies. (this was a few decades back)

Since going co-ed, APO has worked to branch out to the other scouting organizations in the US, such as GSUSA and CFUSA (that's Girls Scouts of the USA and Camp Fire USA). Currently APO has a formal agreement/understanding with CFUSA and still works to create a similiar one with GSUSA.

Our 'sister GLOs', GSS and OPA have long drawn its members from Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls (someone posted that OPA, like APO, required membership in them for a time. I have no idea if the same was true of GSS, but would not be suprised). If either of them have formal relations with either GSUSA or CFUSA, I am not aware of it (in the case of APO-BSA relationship, we have a representative of the BSA on our National BoD, and have a member who represents us on several BSA National Committees).

Freemasonry was mentioned. There ARE some links between scouting & freemasonry, mainly in the influence the concepts of freemasonry has had in several of the camp/honor societies that were formed in the BSA, such as the Order of the Arrow and others. There is now even an award for Freemasons who are active scouters and work to strenghten the ties between scouting & masonry, and is named after Dan Beard, a BSA Founder and Freemasonry (and Honorary APO Brother).

Hope this helps

From the APhiA website:

I don't know if any other NPHC orgs have a relationship with the Boy Scouts.

AFAIK, APO and APA are the *only* GLOs that the BSA lists with the organizations they have a relationship with. The BSA also distributes brochues to councils on how to work with APA.

I think GSUSA or at least our council is trying to address the issue. The GS Troops in this area are huge, even at the hs level. Earning an Interest Project Patch entails activities from 4 sections to include Career Exploration.

I know I have written tons of recs for graduates from my daughter's troop.

I grew up doing Girl Scouting (and work for the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital during the summers) and defintely see a lot of similarities - I think missing some of the "sisterhood" of Girl Scouts is what made me consider a sorority.

I love Girl Scouting, and think it's a great organization. I am a co-leader of the local Junior troop here, and I am so excited to go play with them every Friday! :)

It is frustrating to see how it becomes "uncool" as the girls get older, especially getting into junior and high school. I think that it's something that GSUSA really needs to look into.

I definitely agree. I know that I quit scouting right before 6th grade when I started babysitting. Not only was I too busy, but it wasn't "cool" anymore. I really enjoyed it as a kid, though. I know a ton of people that were brownies and juniors, but I don't know anyone that was a cadette or senior (I think those are the proper terms)

There's also a problem in battling competition from other activities that kids are involved in. In the past, kids were involved with less, but nowadays, they are so overprogrammed (much like our collegiates!) that they don't have time for everything. Moreso now than ever, many young women are involved in sports, which we all know take up a lot of time. Whereas in the past, they may have been involved in scouting, they're now participating in soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc.

There's definitely been some attempt at change, starting new programs, and different ways of doing things (weren't they doing a charm bracelet or something instead of patches and a sash/vest?). Personally, I think it is more a reflection on society than the GS in general.

GSCNC has a lot to offer because of the local area. The Silver Trefoil was designed specifically to take advantage of unique federal opportunities. How many teenagers get to work for a week in the US Senate or House? How many at an embassy or NGO? My daughter and her fellow troop members did this and more. They volunteered for the Inauguration, they were mentored by the Women of Law of Georgetown.

Congrats on your lifelong commitment to Scouting! It is women like you who are shaping the women of the future!

My daughter's Cadette leader is 25, married with a young child (around a year old). She and her husband own a tattoo/piercing parlor and Joyce is covered with tattoos and piercings. She got 4 new girls in the troop from the booth she had at the middle school open house. She makes Girl Scouting look very cool... (some parents have a problem with it though). She tells her story openly. She was very involved in Girl Scouts but also hung out with a rough crowd at school. She started getting into drugs and her Girl Scout leader kicked her out. She believes that if the Girl Scout people had tried to bring her back onto the right road, she wouldn't have gotten as screwed up as she did. Once she "woke up" and started down the right path of life, she decided she wanted to be a Scout leader to try to make sure that no other girls went through what she did. Neat lady.

interesting thread--
 

amazing how much misinformation is out there. In Utah I was told that the only scout troops were mormon-sponsored and that
they broke for LDS services on Sunday. Do not know whether it
is true or not.
The present chairman of the NAACP is a Teke. Does that mean TKE was founded by black folks at Illinois Wesleyan?
I loved scouting and never heard any of this whilst growing up in
central Kansas.
Could it be that scouting is simply a good outfit?

Re: interesting thread--
 

Am sure there are many non-LDS sponsored units in Utah.

However, the point about them breaking for service on Sunday IS very true. I've dealt with many LDS-sponsored troops over the years. In many areas, especially if there are many, the are dealt with VERY differently from other scout units, due to how the LDS church treats their sponsored units vs how other groups (even other churchs) deal with theirs.

But I think we're getting off the point of this site. :)