OA Help...

[CrewGirl1024]

Okay I am new at this, but I am in Venturing (less than a year) and I do hear alot about Order of the Arrow. I have been asked a few times if I am in it and I say no. Mainly because I'm not.

 

What I want to know is HOW do you go about getting into OA? I dunt really understand all if it! I mean I know it is something to be proud of being in, but how do I go about getting in this. Is there special guidelines I need to follow or something? Is there any way I can get this information?

[matuawarrior]

Welcome CrewGirl1024 . . .

 

The information your looking for can be found at the National Order of the Arrow Website:

 

www.oa-bsa.org

 

For more on Venturing and OA, you could find that at Questions and answers:

 

www.oa-bsa.org/qanda/qu-33.htm

 

The program is a Boy Scout Program.

 

 

Welcome again . . .

 

Matua

 

[nldscout]

hello CrewGirl,

 

first I see two problems I see. One is you are in venturing and crews can not have elections, second( I may be Wrong) but by looking at your name I would say you are female, so thats a double whammy against you.

[OldGreyEagle]

The only current way a female may become an AO member is to be at least 21 and be selected by a Boy Scout troop. Yet, oddly enough males members of the OA can wear a lodge flap on their venture uniform, while not being able to have an election in their crew(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[bt01]

The OA (Order of the Arrow) is a boy scout program. I do not know if you can be elected into it if you are part of venturing.

 

There are several requirements to become a member.

[NWScouter]

OGE is correct, the only way to be elected to candidate status is by a Scout Troop or Team, Either as Youth under 18 or as an adult by the Committee. While the Scouts may elect many of their peers every year, by rules to long to explain here, the Committee may elect only one registered adult if their troop has held an election. The interesting question I have yet answered if they could elected a female ASM under 21. Also the lodge, council and district may purpose adult candidates too.

My personal opinion why Venture Crews are not allowed to elect members to OA is some Explorer Posts (before Venturing Crews), when they were allowed to elect, elected female youth members and tried to get them called out. These post were generally ones organized to register female camp staff as they need to register in BSA. In my council and I believe in many other, camp staff are hotbeds of leadership for the lodges.

(This message has been edited by NWScouter)

[eisely]

Venture crews may hold elections for OA. However, the eligibility criteria are the same as for boy scouts. Under these criteria, female youth members of Venture Crews are not eligible because one of the criteria is holding the rank of First Class Scout. Since this rank does not exist in the Venture program, female youth members cannot be elected. This is an inequity but it is a fact. I would hope that OA national would take a serious look at the ranks in the Venture program and establish a rank requirement based on the Venture program. Male youth members also would be affected by this rule if they never were in a scout troop.

[eisely]

Responding further to one of the points in an earlier post....

 

OA is one of those things within scouting where the age cutoff for youth versus adult is different. For OA purposes, a person is considered a youth until age 21. Thus a person who is registered as an assistant scout master, male or female, between the ages of 18 and 21 would be subject to the same election criteria and procedures as youth under 18. Persons over 21 can be selected by the committee of the unit. However that unit must elect at least one youth during the election cylce. Thus those units such as cub scout packs cannot nominate adults because they can never elect a youth.

 

I have never personally seen a person between 18 and 21 appear on a ballot of which I was aware. However the rules do contemplate this possibility. To repeat a point made earlier, to the best of my knowledge there is nothing to prevent a Venture Crew from holding an election, but the eligibility rules effectively limit the possible candidates to those who were a boy scout long enough to earn the rank of First Class, in addition to meeting the other criteria.

[nldscout]

Venturing crews may NOT hold elections. OA is a Boy Scout only program. See http://www.oa-bsa.org/qanda/qa-33.htm if you have any questions.

 

This the official OA answer.

[Bob White]

Sorry Eisley but you are incorrect. Venturing crews cannot hold OA elections.

 

BW

[OldGreyEagle]

Crewgirl, where are you located? It may be time for Venturing to start its own honor service organizaiton and let the boys go play by themselves

 

I have a few female crew members who have talked about the OA as well. I think we could start something ourselves.

[nldscout]

Why is it necessary to have an honor society in venturing anyway? Do they have to emmulate Boy Scouts?

[acco40]

Honor society? Try service organization.

[CrewGirl1024]

Okay I am Located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Part of Venture Crew 1024.

 

I understand that OA is a Boy Scout Program, but just because we don't make Rank like the scouts, but make pretty high ranks ourseleves doesn't that just seem a little awkward? I mean if reach Ranger in Venturing you have basically down the same things as a scout going for eagle...correct me if I'm wrong. I mean Venturing is part of the BSA shouldn't that give us the same "rights" as the regular scouts?

 

One more question...would it be possible for a person in Venturing to work with Scout to get elected in OA?

[nldscout]

CrewGirl1024

 

Unless you are over 21 and are registered with a troop there is no way for a female to become a member of the OA. Yes Venturing is part of BSA, but so is Cub Scouts and they cannot be a memeber either. Its just the way it is, Boy Scouts and Venturing are 2 seperate and distict programs. While you may draw similarities in the two they are seperate.