MOUNT VERNON — Claire Duffy and Gina Lawhon have been working toward Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank, since scouting opened to women in 2019.
“Scouts opened to women February 1, 2019, and ever since February 1, 2019, we have been running and going,” Lawhon said. “Since Day 1, we had to make sure we were on track.”
Scouting has since been open to young women and men ages 11 through 17, with younger girls having been able to join Cub Scouts since Oct. 11, 2017. Because Duffy and Lawhon could not join Scouts until high school, the two Mount Vernon High School products had limited time to rise through the ranks.
Duffy made Eagle Scout with days to spare before her 18th birthday, when she aged out of Scouts BSA.
“My mom would ask me what are you doing this weekend and I’d be like ‘camping,’ and she’d be like ‘camping, again?’ ” Duffy said, recalling the hectic final weeks of scouting.
The First Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon hosted an Eagle Scout Court of Honor, a ceremony recognizing scouts who attain Eagle Scout, on June 6 for Duffy, now 18, and Lawhon, 17.
Although Lawhon was unable to officially join Scouts BSA until 2019, she was already familiar with the organization.
Scouting runs in her family; her father is an Eagle Scout, her brothers are involved with Scouts BSA and her mother had helped with her siblings’ troop. Lawhon’s mother, Sara Lawhon, serves as Duffy and Lawhon’s scout master for their troop 338.
Achieving Eagle Scout has both leadership and skill-building requirements, Sara Lawhon said. For example, Duffy and Lawhon had to earn 21 merit badges, through which they learned life skills ranging from managing their finances to camping.
“The first question out of (Gina Lawhon’s) mouth when I said ‘We’re going to do this’ was, ‘Are the requirements the same?’” Sara Lawhon noted, referring to when Scouts was only open to men.
Gina Lawhon would not have done scouts if the requirements were different for women, she said.
“I didn’t want to do a ‘Scouts light.’ I didn’t want to do a Scouts ‘women’s version,’” she said. “I just wanted to do Scouts. And (Duffy and I) have done the same thing as all of the Eagle Scouts.”
Duffy and Lawhon completed service projects to achieve the Eagle Scout rank. Duffy created a raised sensory garden bed at Wolf Run Park, part of the Knox County Park District. Lawhon made a video time capsule for the Ohio State University marching band by interviewing alumni about their time in the band.
Duffy, who plans to join the United States Coast Guard this summer, emphasized the leadership skills she gained from scouting will be useful to her service.
“I came into scouts and I was like ‘I’ll talk when I’m talked to, but I won’t stand up and be like let’s do this,” Duffy said. “Now I can stand up in front of a crowd and be like ‘Okay here’s something fun we’re going to do. Let’s make this or do this.’”
Lawhon said scouting has allowed her to try things outside of her comfort zone without fear of judgement or rejection, mentioning climbing as an example.
“Scouts has pushed me to do things that I otherwise would not have done, and that has helped me to grow as a person,” Lawhon said.
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