IRVING, Texas (NBC) – The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name.
The organization will officially become Scouting America on February 8 of next year, that’s the organization’s 115th birthday. The name change was announced Tuesday at the Texas-based organization’s annual meeting in Florida.
The new name is the latest big change for the group, which in the last 20 years has ended prohibitions on gay scouts, gay leaders, and girls.
The Boy Scouts’ $2.4 billion bankruptcy reorganization plan took effect last year allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating the more than 80,000 men who say they were sexually abused as children while scouting.
Membership in the scouts peaked in 1972 at almost five million, today there are just over one million scouts, including more than 176,000 girls and young women.
The organization’s flagship program previously underwent a name change in February of 2019 when it became Scouts BSA.
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