West Virginia University students will now have an opportunity to continue their Boy Scouts of America experience in college.
The University has developed a campus-wide venture crew called Crew 988 to increase its Scouting presence. The group will hold an initial get-together event on Friday (March 16) at 4:30 p.m. in the Life Sciences Building room 2315 for interested students.
Members will have the opportunity to gain leadership skills, begin and/or continue their Scouting efforts together. This opportunity also will be open women with prior experience in Girl Scouts or to anyone who is interested in outdoor recreation regardless of prior involvement in Scouting.
“This group is for WVU students who have a Scouting background or who are interested in scouting of a high-adventure nature. The venturing part of scouting is for youth who are ages 14 to 20. It’s really ideal for college students,” said Dan McNeil, professor of psychology at WVU who will be the advisor of the venture crew group.
McNeil hopes that students with a scouting background in high school will be able to make an easier transition to WVU as a freshman. In addition, he hopes that students who weren’t involved with scouts will join the venture crew, as well. Students who turn 21 in college can also have an opportunity to become part of the venture crew’s advisory team at that point, as well.
“We see a lot of good things that can come from this type of student organization,” McNeil said. “It really allows our students to stay involved in the Boy Scouts of America.”
WVU has increased its presence in scouting in part due to the construction of the Boy Scouts of America’s new national center of scouting excellence near the New River Gorge region of West Virginia. Each year, the facility will host a yearly Boy Scouts of America national high adventure summer camp.
“There are going to be high-achieving youth – both men and women – in our because of the new facility,” McNeil said. “What we’re hoping is that they’ll have contact with WVU, and will become interested in attending our University. For some of them, it will be traveling through Morgantown, and for others it will be having a WVU presence at the Summit, so that the Scouts will learn about what WVU has to offer.”
For more information on Crew 988, check out its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Crew988.
-WVU-
td/03/14/12
CONTACT: Dan McNeil, Psychology
304-293-1712, Daniel.McNeil@mail.wvu.edu
Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.