SC girls among 1st in nation to become Eagle Scouts since boys group opened to girls
Five young Midlands women are among the first in the nation to crack one of the country’s clearest gender barriers.
This week, they became the first women to be granted the rank of Eagle Scouts by the Midlands chapter of the Boy Scouts of America.
The Indian Waters Council of the Midlands awarded the honor on Thursday to Cameron Caulk of West Columbia; Reagan Millman and Madelyn Ridley of Lexington; and Carolina Franklin and Ava Phelps of Columbia, after each completed their final Eagle Scout requirement.
Local Scout executive Doug Stone praised the women in a news release to mark the historic occasion.
“These remarkable young people have made history and we are excited for them,” Stone said. “They have done so in female troops — separate altogether from the boy troops — and remarkably, they have completed the final steps and overcome the last hurdles during a worldwide pandemic.”
Senior Boy Scout troops only began accepting female members in February 2019. Cub Scouts, the program for children between the ages of 5 and 10, began accepting girls a year earlier.
Those new Scouts included young girls in the Midlands of South Carolina, where leaders and scouting families welcomed the Scouts’ 2017 decision to begin admitting girls.
Others were more critical of the Boy Scouts’ decision, saying it undermined the role of the traditionally all-male organization and could “ultimately destroy” the Boy Scouts.
Stone noted in the local Scouts’ news release the rank of Eagle Scout has been called the “PhD of Boyhood.”
The honor requires the applicant show leadership abilities, including leading a major community service project, earning at least 21 merit badges and showing “Scout spirit.”
“These are the future leaders of our nation,” Stone wrote. “We strongly believe that the more people in this world who live up to the values and responsibilities of being an Eagle Scout, the better.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 9:31 AM.
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