Young Woman Who Fought To Join Boy Scouts Earns Eagle Scout Rank

BRIDGEHAMPTON, NY — After fighting tirelessly for equality for years, a young woman has overcome her last hurdle and is slated to be awarded the Eagle Scout rank, the highest honor bestowed by the Boy Scouts of America organization, now known as Scouts BSA.

After 15 years in Scouting and nine years spent urging the BSA to admit girls as official badge-earning members, on October 1, Sydney Ireland, 19, whose family also has a home in New York City, had her Board of Review and officially earned her Eagle Scout rank.

On Friday, Sydney told Patch: "During my Board of Review last night, I was asked what the most challenging part of Scouting was for me. I answered, 'Getting into Scouts was the hardest part.' I am so grateful to everyone that has supported me on this path to Eagle, including elected officials and the National Organization for Women-NYC. This is such a wonderful opportunity for young women to achieve greater equality."

For years, Ireland's dedicated crusade to join Boy Scouts has been documented on the East End, where her family lives in Bridgehampton, and in New York, where her family also has a home.

Sydney, a sophomore at Amherst College will lead the inaugural class of women scouts poised to become the first female Eagle Scouts.

Sydney became the first female to successfully complete all requirements to earn the Eagle rank more than two years ago. She finalized her Eagle project, “Connect a Vet with a Pet," on Veteran’s Day in 2018.

But the journey "to reaching the pinnacle of Scouting has been marked with resistance and adversity," said NOW-NYC in a release. "The Boy Scouts initially encouraged Sydney’s efforts to demonstrate mastery of BSA skill levels in pursuit of the Eagle Rank. Led by former BSA President Jim Turley, BSA reversed course."

Sydney was told during a meeting at NOW-NYC offices only a month before her scheduled Eagle project that none of her work towards Eagle would count and that she would need to repeat her work because she was not an official member when she undertook the challenge, endorsed by BSA leadership, NOW-NYC said.

Although Eagle Scouts traditionally need to complete their Board of Review before the age of 18; BSA granted an extension to all girls under 18 to achieve their Eagle under a certain time frame after they moved to allow girls into the program last year.

Sydney, who had been an unofficial BSA member since she was four, has been working tirelessly for years to urge the organization’s largely male leadership to allow girls as official members.

"I am so immensely grateful for the support of so many who believed in me and in the Boy Scouts of America's ability to adapt and I cannot wait for what the future holds for the Scouting movement," Sydney said.

Her father reflected on his daughter's groundbreaking accomplishment: "We are all so proud of Sydney and her nine years of advocacy promoting gender equality," he said. "We applaud the Boy Scouts for opening membership to girls and young women, as well as the countless opportunities, including the Eagle rank."

In recent years, BSA ended its policy of barring female troop members from participating, and elected officials applauded Sydney's efforts to that end.

“Sydney Ireland is a role model for anyone fighting for equal rights for women and girls, thanks to her work in getting the Boy Scouts to start allowing girls to join its ranks. Sydney helped take down a century-old barrier to equality and is now the first woman to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney.

In February, as the Boy Scouts of America changed its name to Scouts BSA and launched a program for girls, allowing them to participate for the first time in the organization's history, Sydney continued her quest to earn her Eagle Scout rank.

Ireland, said the elected officials, has long been the catalyst for the organization's historic change. She has spoken at countless Scout meetings, and sent scores of emails and letters lobbying Boy Scout leaders to let her and other girls have the same opportunities boys have had for more than 100 years — the right to Boy Scout training and access to the Eagle Scout rank.

Ireland, said Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women, has been a Scout in New York City's Troop 414 since she was a child, doing everything alongside her brother and the other boys, including serving as senior patrol leader. Ossorio said Sydney deserved to be awarded the Eagle Scout rank much sooner.

"Her advocacy has been the catalyst to BSA embracing girls and officially accepting them as members. Yet the top brass won't officially accept the documented and Scout leader reviewed skill mastery, rank advancement and merit badges, including her Eagle Project, Sydney has achieved. It's a slap in the face to her as an exemplary Scout, who overcame all odds, and a sad beginning to what should be a positive new chapter in Scouting history. Unfortunately, this treatment is all too familiar to women the world over," she said earlier this year.

In a statement to Patch earlier this year, a spokesperson for the BSA explained why they said Sydney would need to wait to earn her Eagle Scout rank: "Thanks to Sydney, as well as countless girls and their families who came to Scouting activities together for years and wanted to be able to do the same things, achieve the same advancements and earn the same awards as boys in the program, the BSA decided to welcome girls into its iconic programs in October, 2017. We are proud that Sydney Ireland will be one of the first girls to join Scouts BSA, and we will be proud to see her grow in Scouting, attend the World Scout Jamboree and be one of the proud first female Eagle Scouts in the inaugural class that will be celebrated in 2020."

A spokesperson for the BSA added: "For more than 100 years, the pinnacle of the Scouting experience for some has been achieving the highest rank of Eagle Scout. To honor the rigor of the path and dedication required to become an Eagle Scout, it's imperative that they follow the same steps as Eagle Scouts before them, and future Eagle Scouts who will come after them.

"Our goal is to create a level playing field and ensure that all youth just joining Scouting will have the opportunity to achieve their dream and earn the rank of Eagle Scout. In keeping with this philosophy, all requirements must be completed while the individual is a registered member of Scouts BSA, or after achieving the first class rank in Scouts BSA," the BSA spokesperson said.

The BSA gave an analogy: "If you regularly sit in on classes at Columbia University, but aren't matriculated in the school, after auditing a full course load and after the traditional four year college experience, you unfortunately still are not eligible for a Columbia diploma if you were not officially enrolled. Traditionally, BSA rules say a young person can no longer earn Eagle once they turn 18."

Because many new Scouts BSA members were only able to join for the first time on Feb. 1, 2019, that rule would have unfairly excluded those members who were beyond a certain age threshold from having the opportunity to earn Eagle, the BSA said. "By offering this one-time extension, everyone who is willing to work for it will have a fair opportunity to earn Eagle," the BSA added.

Ireland, Sydney's father, said the path to Eagle Scout has been pitted with obstacles.

Sydney, her father said, was "the target of cyber harassment by an adult Boy Scout leader and member of the honor society called the Order of the Arrow, who displayed a photo of Sydney in a Scout uniform and claimed she became pregnant while on a camping trip," Ireland said.

The BSA responded to Patch via a spokesperson, confirming that the male leader had been removed from his position: "Initially, the volunteer member removed the post, apologized and was removed from a position of leadership locally. Since then, based on the appeal, it was determined that the volunteer leader was in violation of our policy so we took action to expire his membership. . . We expect all leaders in the Scouts BSA program — youth and adults — to abide by the Scout Law at all times — to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Harassment of any kind has no place in the BSA."

Scouts BSA did not immediately return a request for comment about Ireland's earning of the Eagle Scout rank.

Despite the many pitfalls along the way, Ireland and his daughter are celebrating victory.

"She worked so hard and despite the manmade obstacles the Boy Scouts threw down in front of her — harassment by a prominent adult leader; the leadership refusing to follow its own rules to grant the Eagle board of review in order to delay — Sydney persevered!" Ireland said.