Hegseth DEI demand puts Scouting America in culture-war fight
University of Tennessee scholars say the dispute reflects a long fight over what summer camps teach children about citizenship and belonging.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
4 min read
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s push for Scouting America to drop diversity, equity and inclusion practices has drawn attention to a youth institution long used to teach ideas about citizenship. University of Tennessee geographers Seth T. Kannarr and Derek H. Alderman argue in The Conversation that the dispute shows how summer camps remain part of the country’s fight over belonging, identity and education.
Hegseth said Scouting America support would continue after the organization committed to drop DEI practices, according to a Defense Department account cited by the scholars. Kannarr and Alderman wrote that his call for Scouting America to focus on developing “boys into men” invokes an older model of Scouting, despite the organization having welcomed girls into its programs since 2019.
Summer camps began as civic training grounds
American summer camps date to the mid-19th century, the scholars wrote. They identified Frederick W. Gunn’s 1861 Gunnery Camp in Washington, Connecticut, as one early organized camp where boys were taught outdoor life through marching, fighting, hunting and foraging.
Other organizations followed. The Young Women’s Christian Association held a summer camp in New Jersey in 1874, and groups including the YMCA, Boys Club and 4-H later created camps, according to the scholars.
Kannarr and Alderman wrote that early camps offered city children relief from summer heat, noise and pollution as more families moved into urban areas. They also said the movement was shaped by “Muscular Christianity,” a school of thought that linked religious character with physical discipline, outdoor toughness and masculine virtue.
The Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA, founded in 1910 and 1912, helped make camps a national ritual, the scholars wrote. Youth organization camps declined during World War II, then grew again in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as groups such as the Boy Scouts expanded.
A large industry with unequal access
Summer programs remain a major part of American childhood. A 2024 Gallup poll found that about 30 million U.S. youths attended summer enrichment programs, including day camps, summer schools and overnight camps, according to the American Camp Association.
The American Camp Association has said the youth camp industry contributes $70 billion a year to the U.S. economy. At many camps, Kannarr and Alderman wrote, activities such as swimming, hiking and crafts sit alongside flag ceremonies, the Pledge of Allegiance and patriotic songs.
Scouting America camps also offer badges tied to civic education. At Canyon Camp in northwest Illinois, the scholars wrote, Scouts can work on badges such as American Heritage and Citizenship in the Nation; in summer 2026, campers can earn an America 250 challenge patch through tasks such as giving a speech on a right they will not take for granted.
Access has never been equal, Kannarr and Alderman wrote. Early camps mainly served white, Protestant, middle- and upper-class boys from Northeastern cities, while Jewish and Black communities later created camps of their own, including Camp Atwater in Massachusetts during the Jim Crow era.
Some interracial camps appeared in the mid-20th century, including Camp Nathan Hale and Camp Gaylord White in New York, which photographer Gordon Parks documented in 1943. The scholars wrote that camp integration remained contested: when the American Camping Association adopted a nondiscriminatory interracial policy in 1965, 125 members resigned.
A 2024 Gallup poll found that Black, Asian and low-income children were less likely to attend summer camp, and 32% of parents said cost kept their children from participating. Kannarr and Alderman wrote that wealthy families remain overrepresented.
Scouting debate reflects broader tensions
Today’s camps vary widely, from Scout and faith-based camps to programs for LGBTQ children and children with physical or mental disabilities, according to the scholars. They said the common thread is the belief that camp can shape character and teach values children carry into adult life.
Kannarr, who works as a summer camp director, and Alderman wrote that Hegseth’s comments fit into a broader struggle over which values youth organizations should promote. They said the debate over Scouting America is also a debate over who is included in the country’s civic ideal.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.