Daily News Roundup: Boy Scouts Open Ranks to Transgender Children

Boy Scouts of America Ends Ban on Transgender Youths: The national nonprofit said it will base enrollment decisions on the gender a child or parent lists on a scouting application, allowing transgender children who identify as male to join, the Associated Press reports. In the past four years, the organization has lifted bans on openly gay youths and adult troop leaders.

University Endowments’ Returns Hit 8-Year Low: A survey of more than 800 institutions’ investment funds showed a 1.9 percent loss in the 2016 fiscal year, the worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis, The Washington Post reports. More than three-quarters of the surveyed colleges increased spending from their endowments last year, according to the annual study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

Arts Groups See Fallout From Trump’s Immigration Order: The president’s temporary ban on U.S. entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries could affect museum exhibitions, stage productions, and other programs by cultural organizations involving foreign artists, writes The New York Times. Universities and research institutions say the White House order could hinder their recruitment of top scientists from abroad, the Times also reports. Read a Chronicle article on nonprofits’ response to President Trump’s travel ban.

Trump Allies Launch Nonprofit Advocacy Group: America First Policies, led by political strategists who worked on President Trump’s campaign and transition, aims to mobilize support for the administration’s agenda in a manner similar to Organizing for Action, which advocated for President Obama’s policies, writes The Washington Post.

N.Y. Lawmakers’ Scholarship Charity Largely Supports Ritzy Event: Less than 10 percent of money raised by the Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators has gone to the nonprofit’s stated goal of financially assisting minority college students, with revenue instead primarily funding an annual retreat for members of the legislature’s minority caucus, according to the Times Union of Albany.