The trail that takes University donations to the Boy Scouts

The Supreme Court ruling this summer that the Boy Scouts of America may exclude homosexuals spurred criticisms and debate across the nation. And even the relatively sleepy Princeton Borough has not been immune.

The debate this month among Borough Council members over whether the town should provide free parking for Boy Scout Troop 43's Christmas fund raiser has heightened awareness of an already-sensitive issue.

For more than 30 years, the University has matched its employees' charitable donations to the United Way of Greater Mercer County. Each year, the local United Way distributes millions of dollars to a range of charitable agencies.

Among these is the Boy Scouts of America.

In 1993 — when the controversy about the Boy Scouts' anti-gay policy first made national headlines — Princeton administrators discussed forbidding United Way from donating any money raised at the University to the Boy Scouts.

However, the board of trustees voted against that proposal and it was never implemented, according to Vice President for Finance and Administration Richard Spies GS '72.

"It seemed like the right discussion to have at the time, but in the end I think we made the right decision," said Spies, who said he originally supported issuing the restrictions to the United Way. "We decided that we are members of the community, and the right thing to do is to let a community organization like United Way decide where our donated dollars go."

According to Janice Carson, United Way of Greater Mercer County's vice president of resource development, any organization participating in a United Way fund-raising campaign has the opportunity at the end of that campaign to request particular agencies not receive the funds raised.

Neither Carson nor University officials said they have any memory of the University ever issuing such restrictions against any organization, including the Boy Scouts.

"I think that's something we leave to the judgment of United Way," Spies said.

Last year, the University gave about $20,000 to the United Way in matched employee donations, according to Carson.

During the same period, the United Way of Mercer County donated funds to 121 programs at 59 local agencies. According to Carson, United Way of Greater Mercer County donated $67,000 to the Boy Scouts' Urban Emphasis program for at-risk children in inner-city environments through a grant that expires at the end of this year.

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She said United Way has approved another grant to continue dispensing funds to the Boy Scouts during the next two years. That grant is slated to take effect in January.

But for several months, a task force of community members and United Way employees has been evaluating the organizations' anti-discrimination clause, which states that it will provide support only for groups that pledge not to discriminate based on age, sex, race or religion.

The task force is discussing implementing some additional anti-discrimination criteria. "We're looking at adding a part to the clause saying organizations also could not discriminate based on nationality, sexual orientation or disability," Carson said. Such an addition could mean that the Boy Scouts might no longer be eligible for donations from United Way of Greater Mercer County.

According to Carson, the task force will not issue its recommendations on altering the anti-discrimination clause before discussing any changes with United Way donors and the groups that receive those donations.

During those discussions, members of the task force will determine whether any groups might be excluded from receiving donations by a revised anti-discrimination clause.

Carson said the review of the anti-discrimination clause was not prompted solely by the controversy involving the Boy Scouts, but she said that organization was one of the local agencies that is being reviewed.

University Vice President for Public Affairs Robert Durkee '69 said the United Way has not yet approached University officials about changing the language of the anti-discrimination policy.

But Durkee said the modifications United Way is considering for its anti-discrimination clause are consistent with the University's own anti-discrimination policies.

According to Vice President and Secretary Thomas Wright '62 and University General Counsel Howard Ende, the University has no formal policy relating to the Boy Scouts. And Wright said the University almost never provides support for charitable organizations other than the United Way.

Spies said he believes any University policy relating to the Boy Scouts might be problematic. "My view of that is it's not the role of the University to make judgments about other organizations," he said. "Higher education is our focus. We're not chartered to play a political or social activist role."