All Insignia Right Pocket Crest of Leadership

While this page centers around insignia which was issued through one College Scouter Explorer Post (when we had such things), the BSA at one time had SEVEN College Scouter Exploring units around the country. College Scouter Explorer Posts were organized at Boise State University, Drake University, the University of Georgia, University of Maryland, High Point University, Indiana State University, and Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). It was the unit at EKU which garnered most of the attention from National. Besides being the first within its speciality "group", there were a lot of innovative things they were doing as far as leadership development (merit badge counselors workshops, district-wide junior leadership development courses, "indoor campfire program", adult "crackerbarrels" betwen Boy and Girl Scouting volunteers, "Eagle Scout Reunions", usage of the internet and mailing groups) and promotion of Exploring as a campus service vehicle at a time when many colleges and universities were just starting to consider "community service" as a regular part of campus life and not as an "occassional" or "seasonal" project.

When the BSA disbanded the Exploring program, the College Scouter programs went with it. Actually, most of the College Scouter Posts went away when the BSA removed the regional and national officer "cycle" in the middle 90s (1994 is when the BSA went to appointing regional and national Exploring officers). The reason was that many of those units were "holding places" for regional and national officers and committemembers to continue to stay active in Scouting and Exploring while going to college.

The BSA removed "College Scouter Reserve" (registration code 92) from the position listing at that time, it was restored in 2008 with the option to allow local Councils to register young men and women in those positions. By this time, most local Councils have been used to not having the position available for registration (as they are presently experiencing with the "Scouter Reserve" (registration code 91) removal. However, some local Councils are using "College Scouter Reserve" registrations to enable Council and Regional/Regional Area Order of the Arrow leaders.

Here's what one of the BSA's Registration Service's staffers said about the position:
"Yes, the BSA reinstated the position code 92 (College Scouter Reserve) about four years ago (2008) but have left it to the discretion of the local Council in using it. Most have not been using it and with the BSA's change in registration status coming to local Councils in 2012 or 13, most won't use it. But there ARE local Councils using it right now for Order of the Arrow and camp staffer leaders at least for the next two years."
(Thanks to Claire and to Mikko McFeely, the College Scouter on a campus in Washington State, for bringing this to my attention!)

Other insignia may have been used at other campuses; the University of Idaho, Indiana State University and High Point University all used the "Silver Scouter" Award and based their awards on Eastern Kentucky University (EKU)'s criteria. The award medallion and square knot insignia were approved by the universities and local Councils.

Eastern Kentucky University's Bluegrass Scouting Alliance Club (BGSA) is a "Club of Future Scouting Leaders". It was formed in 1978 by myself and eight other college Scouters, more than half of whom have never been Scouters before. It was chartered in March of 1979 as Explorer Post 279 (College Scouter Service), Bluegrass Council, BSA and partnered by the Office of the Vice President/Dean of Students, Eastern Kentucky University. The post still exists as a collegiate-level program of interest for former Scouts and present Scouters living or working on the Eastern Kentucky University campus. The Post, as all Exploring units, went away and was not replaced by Venturing units on the campus. The information below is provided as historical data: Students, faculty and staff members may become members of the Post. While membership rises and falls with the semesters, the program has remained constant: to provide additional leadership opportunities, to provide insight and opportunities for professional employment with the Boy Scouts of America or the Girl Scouts of the USA, to provide quality service to the University community, and to permit former Scouts and Girl Scouts to interact and work together in a college atmosphere. The BGSA was a recognized student organization and assisted each summer with orientation and greeting of incoming first year students and their families to the "Campus Beautiful". In 2010, the BGSA and several other student organizations were taken off the list of "recognized student organizations and groups" at EKU since there were no members for seven years prior.

The CSP is worn on the left shoulder of the Scouter field uniform. The BGSA Crest of Leadership is worn on the right pocket of the red jacshirt or on the right pocket of the field uniform by members that have participated in the induction ceremony. Two Crests of Leadership are allowed to be purchased in addition to the one presented to new members; five CSPs were allowed to be purchased by members each calendar year between March and May (March was when the Club was chartered as an Explorer Post).

Because most of the members of the BGSA are Scouters involved in other local Councils other than the Bluegrass Council, A special CSP (this is the second version of the CSP) was designed by Mike Walton. Below the CSP is an illustration of the BGSA's adaptation of the official Crest of Leadership.

The "Crest of Leadership" was designed by William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt for a series of "get back to basics" youth and adult leadership experiences collectively called ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING! It was first used in 1975 in selected Councils and used in all local Councils from 1976-79.

After the ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING! program had become part of the revised Boy Scout program in 1980, the BSA's National Uniform and Insignia Committee granted the Bluegrass Scouting Alliance Club (BGSA Explorer Post 379 -- the nations' first College Scouter Reserve Explorer Post) permission to wear and display the Crest. The Club sought to find a crest similar to those which campus fraternities and sororities display and wear. After receiving permission, the BGSA made two significant changes to the Crest (shown above), making it distinguishable from those who have earned the Crest during their earlier Boy Scout or Scouter experiences.

First, the BGSA's Crest of Leadership is fully embroidered, with a deep brown background instead of the light brown cloth background found on the older Crest. Then, a silver Mylar-threaded border was created on the new Crest to take the place of the yellow/gold border found on the cloth emblem. Only ONE additional Crest may be purchased by a BGSA member. Stadri Emblems Company of New York City created the special Crests and made them available to BGSA Club members as well as to College Scouter Reserve Explorer Posts in four other locations in the USA.

From the BGSA Induction Ceremony, written by Paula "Butterscotch" Ward:
"I have the honor of explaining briefly the Crest of Leadership to you. It is a special badge indeed.

In 1973, the Boy Scouts of America, for the first time in its existence, radically changed its programs. These uniforms are one result. A more important result was the way we changed the program from one of the outdoors to one in which the outdoors was not necessary for participation. We thought we were doing it to attract more youth, more adults, more community support, and to make the program more accessible to those who could not go to the outdoors. We even changed what we called ourselves. We were no longer "Boy Scouts" and "Boy Scouters" and the "Boy Scouts of America". We were called "Scouts", "Scouters", and "Scouting/USA" was the name of the program we were in.

The only problem was, kids wanted to go camping. They wanted to learn about the environment. They wanted to swim, to cook, to hike, to do all of those things. Outside. They wanted to be Boy Scouts, not "Scouts". Bill Hillcourt, also known as "Green Bar Bill", and a group of veteran and new Scouters were asked to assess and improve upon the "improvements". Hillcourt and the others brought Scouting back to what we are all about through a program called ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING! Hillcourt emphasized that Scouting is an outdoor program and in having local Councils to implement this new program, told them that ALL of it must take place outdoors. ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING!'s training programs trained those who would work with the youth of Scouting -- the adults and youth leaders.

The emblem he chose to symbolize those who went through such training courses was designed by him. It would have no lettering except the word "FORWARD". It represented where Scouting has been and where it was going. He describes the emblem in the ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING! Guidebook for Scouters administering the training courses as follows:

"The upper right corner contained three red lions, taken from the flag of the county in which Brownsea Island is found. Brownsea Island is where Baden-Powell tested this new idea called Boy Scouting. The lower right corner contained two silver bars -- a reminder that Scouting is a youth-led leadership experience. Boys lead patrols, troops, teams, dens, and crews. Boys and girls lead Explorer ships and posts. The upper left corner contained a fluer-de-lis, found as part of every Scout emblem around the world. It reminds us of our commonality with the many other Scouting programs in the world, free or otherwise. In the lower left corner is placed the eagle and shield --emblems of the United States of America. Put together, the two emblems form the official emblem of the Boy Scouts of America. The knight's helmet reaffirms our obligation to be of service to our fellow man -- to "help other people at all times". The Campaign hat, commonly called the "Smokey the Bear Hat", reminds those whom wear this emblem that Scouting was held to be of such high esteem by our country, that Scouts were frequently sought out to lead military units into battle during both World Wars as well as in peacetime. It also ties us together with Lord Baden-Powell himself, a veteran and highly decorated British military officer. The brown background suggests the out-of-doors, where Scouting is conducted. The rectangular shape of the emblem suggests a doorway -- perhaps one into that of leadership. Finally the silver border (the original emblem had a yellow/gold border) matches the silver shoulder loops and the silver border of the trained Scout leaders' badges of office.

About the word FORWARD. "Green Bar Bill" chose this word to symbolize the direction Scouting should be going in, as well as to remind Scouts why they are in Scouting. He stated in the guidebook:

"Scouts and the American Scouting movement should go FORWARD. Forward in service -- service to their communities, their nation, their God. Forward progress is good progress. Do not forget the past, honor it. But move FORWARD. For the person who does not move FORWARD does not look for the future. He is not prepared for the changes. He is not ready to accept the mantle of leadership which society will place upon him because he has been a Boy Scout. And if those of us whom are responsible for this young man's training does not take that responsibility seriously, then we have failed in giving the man the tools he needs to lead."..."

Other insignia: On some campuses, a special "College Scouter" badge of office was created. I have not been able to obtain one of those for display or placement in my personal collection. I am still looking for them. The emblem had a white twill background, full color Universal emblem and the wording "College Scouter" in blue with blue border. When I find one, I will display the image here. EKU never used them -- for College Scouters there were either members of committees at the District or Council level, or serving as Assistant Scoutmasters or Cubmasters with area units -- and therefore wearing the appropriate badge of office for those roles. On campuses hosting College Scouter Exploring units, Posts were encouraged to recognize community leaders as well as their members for their leadership on the campus. This was through the Silver Scouter Award. The first Silver Scouters were awarded at Indiana State University in November of 1978 as part of a District Recognition Banquet. Their Award consisted of a certificate and a silver BSA contest medal suspended from a white ribbon with a dark blue stripe down its center -- the University's colors. Boise State and High Point Universities awarded their Silver Scouter Awards in February of 1979. Their awards included a $100 campus bookstore certificate, the award certificate and a silver-colored MacKenzie statuette. EKU awarded their first awards in May of 1979. The original silver medallion was paired up with a ribbon reflecting the BSA and campus' colors but was later reissued to holders featuring a maroon ribbon with a white stripe down its center -- EKU's colors. Additionally, the University presented (until 1980) their campus Leadership medallion to the non-BSA members. In 1981, a square knot insignia was approved by the Bluegrass Council for wear to signify holders of the Silver Scouter Award and it was shared with those other campuses also awarding the Award. The original knot design was taken from the from the Scoutmaster Award of Merit knot with the square knot being silver (grey) instead of white. [personal note: there's nothing wrong with your browser, I was only able to a photograph of half of the knot on someone's shirt). Only a few were distributed during the fall of 1982. The knot design was redone in 1982 to a silver and white knot on the khaki-tan background but was not submitted for approval until 1989. By that time, the other universities offering the award had their own uniform items to use or chose not to use a square knot emblem at all. In the meantime, a different square knot emblem was submitted and approved for wear. This knot emblem featured a maroon and white square knot on a fully embrordered tan background (version 2). As with most square knot emblems made during that timespan, the "mold" must have been broken and the design was not pleasing and did not match other "knot emblems". The emblem was redesigned using an old template from the Supply Division and became the current (and final) emblem as displayed. Silver Scouter (College Scouter) Award This was the first version... Silver Scouter (College Scouter) Award Version 2 This was the second version.... Silver Scouter (College Scouter) Award Current/Final version The final award knot emblem looks closer to the Silver Buffalo Award; however in closer inspection, the Silver Buffalo Award square knot is a lighter red color while the Silver Scouter Award knot features a deep maroon color. The Silver Scouter Award was shared between Eastern Kentucky, Boise State and Purdue Universities. Purdue called their award the "College Scouter" award. The actual award consists of a university medallion (or the BSA generic silver contest/award medallion) suspended from a narrow maroon, white and maroon ribbon along with a certificate and MacKenzie statuette for the non-BSA members. Purdue used a different ribbon color combination but retained the knot emblem. One award was to be presented yearly to a member of one of the on-campus Exploring units; another award to be presented to an adult (21 or older) for their service to Scouting (not neccessarily on-campus) and a third award would be presented to a campus leader whose service reflects that of similar type service attained by Scouting members or volunteers. Only one "set" of awards could be presented yearly during Scouting Anniversary Month. The knot emblem is no longer available through Eastern Kentucky University nor any of the other universities, which is where I received the first two versions of the knot from as the Silver Scouter program there along with the Explorer Post has been inactive since 1998. When I inquired if they started up the program in 2005, I was sent a small packet of knot emblems along with a note stating that EKU was clearing out all of their old Exploring stuff and since the BSA did away with "college Scouter reserve" Exploring units and they did not transition to the Venturing program, I was welcome to the knots. I asked for one of the extra medallions as well and was told that there were none left. I am looking for any and all items relating to the ALL OUT FOR SCOUTING! program, whether the materials are from National, one of the Regions or any local Council. Specifically, I am looking for the original 11x14 Crest of Leadership poster cards (similar in style to the rank cards for Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts), training materials, Crest of Leadership decals, neckerchiefs and/or neckerchief slides. I have several of those items but I want to expand on what I have and share some of it with EKU and with other collegiate Scouter programs. Of course, I also want to eventually display some of these items here in my office. I am also interested in the special neckerchiefs used at Boise State, Purdue and High Point Universities for their College Scouters. And of course, I am always on the lookout for one of those College Scouter badges of office emblems. "Green Bar Bill" had a great idea......it brought us back to what Scouting is really about...outing...and I'm glad that I was a participant in the program and later an advisor/trainer. I'm especially glad that the BSA allowed our Explorer Post and two others to use the Crest as a visual outward symbol for college students willing to expand their personal involvement in Scouting.

Post me if you have anything that I may be interested in!

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