Boy Scouts of America announced yesterday it would change its name to Scouting America in February of next year, the first rebrand in its 114-year history. Membership in the youth organization known for outdoor activities and patriotic values has halved in the last decade to 1 million, below its 1972 peak of 5 million.
The news comes as the BSA grapples with a yearslong bankruptcy process prompted by thousands of allegations of sexual abuse of its youth members by at least 7,200 individual adult group leaders, with some cases dating back to the 1960s. The organization agreed to contribute—alongside insurance companies—to a $2.4B settlement fund last year to compensate the over 82,000 men who have submitted claims of abuse. It marks the largest payout in a sexual abuse lawsuit in history.
The name change follows the organization's decision to allow girls of every age to join in 2019. Boy Scouts of America is a separate organization from the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
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