The Order of the Arrow as We Knew It is Being Terminated.

National’s induction proposal eliminates the Ordeal. And without the Ordeal, there is no OA.

There will be no Elangomats.
The new program has no tests, so it has no need for exemplars. And to apply the word “Elangomat” to their proposed kindergarten‑teacher Luminary role would be an insult to every Arrowman who ever walked the four tests with candidates. It would defile the lived struggles of thousands of real Elangomats.

There will be no Induction Principles.
They are not rejected. They are irrelevant. The new induction weekend is designed to be safe, comfortable, and predictable, a kindergarten rather than a crucible. In such a system, the Induction Principles are unnecessary because the depth they were created to protect no longer exists.

Goodman’s vision is terminated.
His system — select the best Scouts, give them a life-changing experience,, and send them back as examples — is replaced by a fun club. Attendance goals. A unit‑style program where the objective is to get all members to all meetings and events. “The first obligation of every Arrowman is to his home unit?” No longer. The purpose of the Order is being reversed.

Only the OA name remains.
The OA program does not. The OA purpose does not. The OA meaning does not. For more than a century, the OA survived because the Ordeal survived. Because the tests survived. Because each of us carries the memory of our Ordeal. We were challenged. We were changed. We are still caught up in the quiet power of that experience.

They Have a Different Vision

They want numbers. More members in the OA. More attendance at meetings and weekends. They have declared a new primary purpose: Keep (older) Scouts in Scouting.

“What would happen if every new member who completed their induction returned to your lodge or chapter’s very first event?” — Email 11/12/2025 promoting the new induction

If that happened, it would be proof positive that many members were not returning to their units in service. Their new priority in Scouting would be the OA. The proposal replaces connection to your troop with connection to the OA. Indeed, the Ordeal does not do much to bind OA members to each other. This comes later, in participation in OA events and in the Brotherhood ceremony. Our induction binds you to a life of service TO OTHERS, NOT TO THE OA. The purpose of the OA isn’t to do OA service projects. Or to keep paying for Scout membership each year. Or to meet to tell each other how great we are. The primary function of our projects in the OA, both during the Ordeal and afterward, is to foster our dedication to others.

The focus of OA membership was to others. THE NEW OA IS ALL ABOUT OUR TIES TOGETHER. IT IS A SELFISH TURN AWAY FROM OTHERS. The OA becomes a clique. A fun place. A club. We are better. We are members. They aren’t.

Eligible Scouts will learn that it is no longer a challenge. Scoutmasters will realize this change in direction and will stop having unit elections. Instead of an increase in membership, it will drop.

Camp directors will struggle to maintain their camps. When we introduced the Elangomat system, we discovered that the amount of work performed roughly doubled, with no changes to the tests. With only a few short periods of service and inevitable loss of time getting to and from the projects, the new induction will only accomplish a small fraction of the work.

The irony is that rather than more members and more service, there will be less.

This completes a deeply disturbing pattern in the BSA. The Kodiak Challenge, BSA Lifeguard, and Powderhorn have all been terminated in the last few years. Advancement through First Class has been accelerated. Eagle required merit badges are more indoor and some difficult ones have easier alternatives. Now the Ordeal is being dropped. They are dropping the “tough stuff”. I hope not for the “benefit” of the girls. They join us rather than the Girl Scouts for the challenge. For more information about changes over the past 50 years to Scouting, go to TheRiseAndFallOfScouting.org.

Don’t they know that senior Scouts stay for the tough stuff? Not for games that would be appropriate in a Cub Scout Pack?

That is why SaveTheOA exists.
Not to preserve a brand. Not to preserve a sash. To preserve the experience: the ancient, universal power of the four challenges lived as one. The OA will continue, or can restart, if Scouts are given the chance to be challenged, not just amused.

Have you been an Elangomat?
Treasure that experience. If you have not, be one in the next year — even as an Assistant Elangomat. After this proposal is implemented in your lodge, you will never get the chance. I assure you, it is a deeper, more profound experience than the Ordeal as a candidate.

It has become harder to be an Elangomat as I grow older. At 77, I know the day will come when I can no longer do what I love. But I never imagined losing the ability to Elangomat not because my body gives out, but because the role is erased. I’m heartsick that Scouts will lose the chance to follow an Elangomat. Or to be one.

For a detailed treatment of their proposed changes, go to Commentary on the Proposal.

The National OA Committee meets in early January to adopt this program. If we do not act now, the OA as we know it will end. Share this.

If you’re ready to speak up, here’s how.

• Add a comment below. You can be anonymous.
• Share this page with your lodge, chapter, and friends. An easy link: SaveTheOA.org
• Urge your lodge leadership to delay implementation.
• Share this on your social media. Youth voices matter, and they travel farther than email.
• Email the National OA Committee Chair at: Chris.Grove@oa-bsa.org
  • CC the National OA Director at: cortland.bolles@scouting.org
  • CC: protest@savetheoa.org (so we can track how many voices are speaking)
  • You don’t need a long message. You don’t need to debate details.
  • If you want a simple line to anchor your note, you can use this:
    • Keep the Ordeal. Please do not adopt the proposed program.