Eagle Scout - A Boy Scouts of America Tradition since 1911
Charles C. Fawcett IV of TriState Capital serves as the president of the company’s private banking team. Outside of work, Charles C. Fawcett IV enjoys staying active by skiing and spending time with his children. Having participated as a child in the Boy Scouts of America, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) awards the Eagle Scout rank, its highest advancement, to scouts meeting specific criteria of skills and community service. A BSA tradition just under a century old, the honor stays with scouts throughout their lives. The designation of Eagle Scout has undergone numerous changes since its inception. In the 1908 Scouting for Boys handbook, the Eagle Scout rank did not exist among the advancement levels for Boy Scouts. At the time, the handbook detailed the Wolf badge as the highest honor, in reference to a nickname given to its author, Robert Baden-Powell. The introduction of Eagle as the scout’s highest award came a year after the 1910 founding of the Boy Scouts of America. The first Handbook for Boys described the Eagle Scout Award not as a rank but as a special merit badge given to scouts who earned a total of 21 merit badges. This policy continued until the 1927 publication of the Handbook for Boys, after BSA officials determined the need for a higher ranking system; handbooks detailed the Eagle Scout honor as an official scout ranking from this point onward. Requirements for the rank included 21 merit badges and a year’s service as a First Class Scout. Over the next several years, the BSA handbook and Eagle Scout ranking experienced a variety of additional changes as the ranking requirements were altered and ranks below Eagle Scout were switched with others. However, only minor changes have occurred since the release of the 1990 handbook. Today the Eagle Scout stands out as a nationally recognized honor. Scouts who achieve this ranking and remain in good standing are eligible to join the National Eagle Scout Association, an organization formed in 1971.