This past weekend, three area teens were among over nine hundred young women recognized in the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts in the U.S.
During a nationwide, virtual salute last Sunday evening, the organization now known as Scouts BSA welcomed young women into its top ranks for the first time in its history.
Achieving the Eagle Scout ranking has propelled the college and career paths for many young men over the years, but it was an opportunity for an earned advantage that was denied to women.
When Scouts BSA allowed all-girl troops to form two years ago, Troop G374 in Evansville was launched. Three young women from G374 are the first from the Buffalo Trace Council to achieve the Eagle Scout rank.
Emma Paul and Elizabeth Knea are two of the local honorees. Emma is a sophomore at Reitz High School and Elizabeth is a senior at North. Emma spoke about her path to Eagle.
“ I wanted to because my dad was a Cub Scout leader and he ended up being a Boy Scout leader. My brother did Scouts and I would always like tag along with everything they did. And, I got into Crew when I was fourteen, and then they found out girls could join. So, I decided that I was going to join. And finally get to experience it, and not just like be there, but also be actually counted for doing these things.”
Elizabeth added, “Both of my brothers are involved in Scouting. I wanted to get Eagle even before they said that girls could join. It was a goal and when they said that I could do it and I’d have just enough time to finish it. I’m just the right age. I jumped on board, head first, no clue what was going to happen, just went for it. So I also one of the founders of the troops. Emma and I and Sara and a couple of the other females, there was like six of us, I think. We started the troop. I ended up getting elected as SPL (Senior Patrol Leader, the top leadership post in a troop) during the pandemic, so that was a whole thing to figure out how to deal with COVID and still have Scouting as well.”
Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout is not easy. Anyone attempting it has to prove their leadership and commitment in many ways throughout the years long process. Again, first Emma and then Elizabeth reflected on the historic nature of their accomplishments.
“It’s a big deal because like, we are the first, and even if we weren’t the first, I’m just glad to have the opportunity to get it. Because I know, like before, I always wanted to. Any of the girls who get it from now on, it should be like a big thing for them because it wasn’t always like this.”
“Personally, it’s a big deal for me," Elizabeth added, "First, I beat all my brothers to it. I’m competitive. And then, just being first in the females and then carve a path for the people behind us. It’s something that is unique, something that is hard. But, once you’re done with it and you’re so proud of yourself and everyone around you is proud of you. Now, I’m just cheering on my brothers.”
Finally, I asked Emma and Elizabeth about what their moments mean in terms of greater equality for young women.
“I can see it as kind of a step toward us all being more equal in a way," Emma said. "Especially, I know like college scholarships, I know like, these boys can get thousands of dollars off because of Eagle and that’s what we didn’t get before, so I think it makes it more equal that way.”
Elizabeth said, “It does bring some kind of equality to it just by the fact that we have the recognition of Eagle. I can go up someone and be like, ‘Do you know what Eagle Scout is?’ And, they may know nothing about Scouts, but they know that’s a big deal. I’m also applying to colleges. The colleges have emailed me back and I wrote something about working toward Eagle at the time. One college was like, ‘That’s so cool. That’s awesome!’ They specifically reached out to me and said that’s so cool. It’s just something a lot of people know about and so females weren’t allowed to get that kind of recognition. (So now), if they put themselves through it, they can get the same kind of award.”
You may remember the third local Eagle Scout from our feature last summer about Sara Steurer’s Eagle project that honored a childhood friend, Kendall Murphy, who died after contracting Rocky Mountain spotted fever ten years ago. Sara says she’s been back to the playground they renovated at Resurrection School.
Question: ‘So, tell me what it felt like to see the kids using it.”
“It was really nice because it showed they loved it and thought it was really awesome. There were so many cute messages on it. (A chalk rock designed for children to express themselves.) And even if they didn’t know Kendall, it was still really sweet they knew her impact, what that meant to everyone. It was so cute. I loved it.”
Question: “Have you had a chance to think about what it means? This is really a historic time that girls can attain the rank of Eagle Scout and really, the huge advantage that had only been available to boys?”
“ Yeah, it’s crazy that all this has happened in two years. I’m so excited I decided to join and so glad my dad pushed me to join. At first, it was fast and then it finally hit. There’s my Eagle project. I get to do this. It was amazing and I’m still so happy with my project and how it turned out.”
The three young women from the Buffalo Trace Council haven’t actually received their Eagle Scout badges yet. They chose to delay their Court of Honor ceremonies until April when more people can attend in person.
