DEI: Explaining the diversity, equity and inclusion debate
Initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion are facing bans across the United States.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Feb. 26 announced the Pentagon will conditionally continue to provide support to Scouting America following the youth organization’s “commitment to pull all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from its program.”
In a video, Hegseth said he had been weighing ending “all support” of Scouting America, the nonprofit formerly called the Boy Scouts of America, after “DEI crept in.”
Scouting America has signed a memorandum of understanding stating that it will comply with an executive order from President Donald Trump that aimed to bar DEI efforts in the public and private sectors, Hegseth said.
Changes include the removal of DEI-focused language from Scouting America’s programs and publications, and the elimination of a “citizenship in society” merit badge that required Scouts to “realize the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion and ethical leadership.” A new military service merit badge will be introduced, according to the Pentagon.
Membership in the organization will also be based on a child’s sex assigned at birth. “That means that the application, any application, will have only two sex designations, male and female, and the application must match the applicant’s birth certificate,” Hegseth said.
“I was very seriously considering ending our support of Scouting altogether,” Hegseth said in the video.
“But, before making this big change, I decided to meet with the current scouting leadership to convey our deep concerns,” Hegseth continued, adding that Scouting America eventually agreed to “key reforms” after discussions with officials at the Department of War, formally known as the Department of Defense.
Scouting America President and CEO Roger Krone said the organization was proud to maintain its longstanding commitment to military families across the globe through “a renewed, strengthened partnership with the Department of War.”
“Over several months, we engaged in dialogue with Department leadership to align on how we could deepen our service to military families, while making programmatic updates to comply with Executive Order 14173,” Krone told USA TODAY on Feb. 27. “Today we are moving forward with implementing new programmatic elements that deliver that mission.”
Krone said throughout the process, Scouting America “held firm on the core commitments” that define the organization, which rebranded to its current name in 2024. It began permitting girls to join Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and now has more than 200,000 girls among its members.
“Girls have been an integral part of Scouting since the 1960s and have served as leaders and program developers for decades,” Krone said. “That commitment is unwavering.”
Ongoing threats over DEI
Hegseth’s announcement comes after Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote earlier in February called Scouting America “a great organization,” that has “lost its way.”
Citing the nonprofit’s “unacceptable” decisions in recent years “that run counter to the values” of the Trump administration, Parnell wrote, Scouting America’s leadership has made decisions “that embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances” for more than a decade.
“We have made it very clear: No more DEI at (DOW),” Parnell wrote in a Feb. 2 post on X.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
