A one-day event at Morgan State University on Saturday, Oct. 3 could put more Montgomery County Scouts on the path to Eagle rank, badges some of them have never had access to. For many, it would be their first time on a college campus.
Fewer than 1% of the nation’s Eagle Scouts are Black or Latino.
“For African American and Latino boys or girls, we represent less than 1% of the population of all Eagle Scouts,” said Dwayne Ham, co-chair of Alpha Merit Badge University (AMBU) at Morgan State University. “Some of the challenges are that they don’t have an opportunity to find the courses or the classes. By creating AMBU, we’re serving the community and giving children and scouts an opportunity to access.”
AMBU is a national scouting initiative hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. The second annual Baltimore event, run by the fraternity’s Pi Upsilon Lambda Chapter, offers 30 merit badge classes, including 10 Eagle-required badges. Montgomery County didn’t have any Scouts at last year’s event. Ham, a school counselor at Montgomery County Public Schools’ Galway Elementary School, is working to change that this year through direct outreach to families and school counselors across Montgomery County.
Ham said the push is personal.
“Growing up, I didn’t get a chance to see a college campus until it was well into my high school years,” Ham said. “I want them to start seeing college as early as fifth grade, if possible. I just want to give students an opportunity to say it is possible.”
What’s new this year at AMBU
This year, Morgan State is offering an application fee waiver to any MCPS senior who registers for AMBU. The university’s director of enrollment and student services will be on site Oct. 3 with the ability to accept qualified students on the spot.
“That’s just a little carrot that they don’t have to pay for,” Ham said. “It opens opportunities.”
Morgan State is also hosting “Morgan Day” on Oct. 2, the day before AMBU. Ham has asked the MCPS counseling department to help coordinate a bus of interested students so families can tour campus and apply for the fee waiver before AMBU begins the next day.
What the day looks like
Scouts will spend the day in university classrooms, taught by professionals in fields including engineering, robotics, cybersecurity and first aid.
“The professionals who are teaching even the merit badges, this is their chosen profession, and for some of them, it’s their hobby,” Ham said. “Those courses will be taught mostly by African Americans.”
AMBU is open to all Scouts, though organizers are focusing outreach on Black and Latino students specifically, a group that remains underrepresented among Eagle Scouts nationally.
Scouts will also walk the campus using a compass, tracing the history behind Morgan State’s buildings. They’ll be based out of the School of Business and Management but will move through campus, including the engineering building, and eat lunch in the dining hall alongside roughly 15,000 college students.
What parents should know
Parents can drop Scouts off at 8 a.m. on Oct. 3 and pick them up at 6 p.m. at the School of Business and Management, located at 4200 Hillen Road on Morgan State’s campus. Parents are welcome to stay for the day and can join a designated parent room or lunch.
An Alpha Phi Alpha member helps two Scouts in uniform during Alpha Merit Badge University.
Registration details
Alpha Phi Alpha’s goal this year is 300 Montgomery County Scouts on campus. Organizers plan to host AMBU at Morgan State for at least three more years, with a possible future expansion to Coppin State.
Scouts can register at ambu1906.org/ambu-baltimore. Families interested in Morgan Day should contact their school counselor.
For general information on the national AMBU program, visit ambu1906.org.
