BYU NewsNet - Old fashioned?

By STEVE PIERCE

Justin Fillmore didn’t get into BYU when he first applied — until his mother informed the university her son had recently received his Eagle Scout award.

Fillmore received a letter of rejection from the Provo campus following his initial application in 2005. Knowing the competitive nature of the school, he figured there was nothing he could do and prepared to attend BYU-Idaho, his second-choice, the following fall.

Yet his mother was not about to let her son’s collegiate dreams die without a fight. In an attempt to get some answers about her son’s rejection, she called the university’s admissions office.

When she got an employee on the phone, Laura Fillmore asked why her son was rejected. The employee, whose name she has long since forgotten, did not provide a specific answer, instead offering his condolences and explaining the school’s complex and competitive admissions process. In a last-ditch attempt, Laura played her last card.

“Well, he just got his Eagle Scout,” she said. “Does that change anything?”

It did. Apparently Justin was just barely deficient in extracurricular activities, and his recently obtained Eagle Scout award put him over the edge. A gleeful Laura Fillmore was informed that her son would be granted last-second admittance to BYU, almost exclusively because of his scouting record.

Today, as Latter-day Saints nationwide debate the pros and cons of the church’s involvement with Boy Scouts of America and the near-mandatory nature of the program for LDS young men, Justin Fillmore finds it hard to say anything negative.

“Scouting got me into BYU,” he said. “I literally wouldn’t be here without it, so I can’t really complain.”

Bradley Harris, a professor of non-profit management at BYU, worked professionally with Boy Scouts of America for 22 years. He said the Scouting program provides experiences that help young men practice their faith.

“Scouting is the laboratory,” he said. “It’s practicing what you learn at church on Sunday. If we didn’t have scouting, we wouldn’t be able to practice what we learn.”

Harris recently released a book titled “Trails to Testimony,” which outlines the ways in which scouting can help build testimonies. He said he has had some of the most unique spiritual experiences of his life through scouting.

He remembers fondly a sacrament meeting he attended with LDS Scouts at the 2006 National Jamboree. The outdoor meeting, presided over by President Thomas S. Monson, continued through pouring rain.

“The rain was coming down and plunking in our sacrament cups,” he said. “That’s the type of experience that you wouldn’t get anywhere else.”

However, critics contend the LDS scouting program is ineffectively run and outdated, with many young men participating as a chore rather than a choice.

While many Latter-day Saints believe the national program would crumble if the church were to withdraw its support, Harris said in an interview earlier this year that is not the case. He also said he agrees the program needs better leadership, but steadfastly believes a well-run Scouting program has no equal.

“The problem is not with our boys, but with our leaders,” he said. “We too often reduce scouting to earning badges and checking boxes. That mentality doesn’t give the boys the full effect. It’s like driving an eight-cylinder car on only two cylinders.”

Some opponents advocate the abandonment of scouting in favor of the church’s own Duty to God program, citing better missionary preparation and more relevant skills learned as reasons for their support.

Harris said Duty to God was never meant to imitate or replace scouting in the church.

“Scouting is the activity arm of the Aaronic Priesthood,” he said. “Duty to God is an achievement program. It was never meant to compete with scouting. It is designed to help Scouting.”

Brian Stutzman, who has been involved in scouting for many years in Idaho Falls, Idaho, has been a “huge critic” of the program. He once operated a Web site focused on changing and improving scouting within the church, but was forced to take it down after receiving threats and personal attacks.

Stutzman said he feels scouting has not adapted with changes in contemporary culture and is no longer relevant to young men.

“My criticism was that scouting was stuck in the traditions that were current when it started almost 100 years ago,” he said. “If scouting was started today, they would have references to NASCAR [and] the Gulf War. Instead, it was [references] to Lord Baden Powell and his wars, the Jungle Book, etc.”

Stutzman said he had extensive conversations with both the Boy Scouts of America national office in Dallas and Young Men General President Charles W. Dahlquist about his concerns. He said he believes scouting will only recapture the attention of young men through modernization.

“Scouting needs to modernize,” he said. “The merit badges did not reflect the interests or needs of 21st century boys.”

Ben Wagner, a junior from Fairfax, S.C., said many of the skills taught by the program are irrelevant in the modern world.

“Scouting doesn’t really apply too often anymore,” he said. “My iPhone has GPS. Please explain to me why I will ever need the orienteering merit badge.”

Although he does not see the practical application of many skills, Wagner does not advocate abolishing scouting within the church. He said he believes the program should be optional and should not take precedence over other worthwhile pursuits.

“I believe that scouting can be a good and effective program if time and effort is put into it and the young men have the will to do it,” he said. “I don’t think that scouting should take precedence over other church programs and I don’t think that it should be mandatory. I think that every parent should consider each individual case and whether scouting is right for their child. I eventually made the choice to participate in high school sports over scouting, and I firmly believe that I learned more applicable lessons about life from high school sports then I ever would have learned from scouting.”

Daniel Anderson, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas, said he thinks scouting teaches valuable lessons, but feels there is too much emphasis on “getting the Eagle.”

“Scouting is a fine program and affords young men a lot of neat experiences they might not otherwise have,” he said. “What I don’t like is the drive of the adults for every young man to get their Eagle. Sometimes I get the sense that many of the young men [get their Eagle] not because they wanted to, but because their parents threatened them with not getting their driver’s license until they finished their Eagle project.”

Harris, the “professional” scout, said he agrees with Anderson’s assessment, but feels the real purpose of scouting lies beyond awards and badges.

“We want to get young men away from all the distractions of the world,” he said. “We want to get them out in the woods and help them feel the spirit and really meet their maker. Badges are simply the icing. The spirit is the cake.”