Princeton stops funding Scouts

sions [about which groups to support]." There is, however, an option listed for employees to give to the United Way, without naming specific groups. These funds are distributed by the United Way to any of their funded groups, including the Boy Scouts. Hyatt said, however, that she has not heard of any complaints by faculty or staff concerning donation recipients of the Penn's Way campaign. "If it is an issue for the University community then we would need to address it," she said. Hyatt added that the University's charity campaign is much different from the Princeton campaign in that University employees have "more choices" about which groups to support and that the University does not give matching funds to the United Way. Blake Lewis, national spokesperson for the Boy Scouts of America, said last week that United Way chapters in San Francisco and Portland, Maine have already stopped funding the Boy Scouts over the issue of discrimination. But he added that the loss of contributions from a handful of United Way chapters would not push the Boy Scouts to change its policy, since, on average, all United Way donations make up only 20 percent of Boy Scouts funding. "You have to understand that scouting has always reflected what scouting families. . . expect of the organization," he said. "It's our position that homosexuals do not provide a role model that's consistent with those expectations." Lewis added that if people outside the organization were allowed to "pick and choose" standards, the Boy Scouts would be "directionless." He added that the Boy Scouts have barred gays and atheists since the organization's founding in 1910, although it does not require applicants to state their sexual preference. "We've not denied the rights of persons who disagree with our standards to do their thing in a different way," Lewis said. The Associated Press contributed to this story.