COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. (WOWO) – A summer camp in Whitley County is coming under fire due to a change on their camper registration form that asks incoming campers, aged seven to fourteen, to include their “preferred pronouns.”

Camp Whitley, a summer camp for kids in Columbia City, introduced this online camper registration form back in 2022. According to a statement shared by the Camp Whitley Board of Directors, the online registration form was implemented, “…to help create a more user-friendly experience for our campers and families.” However, many parents and community members reached out to the camp to share their concerns about the “preferred pronouns” question being on the form. 

Concerned constituents also reached out to Indiana’s 3rd District Congressman Jim Banks. In response to receiving those concerns, Congressman Banks reached out to the Camp Whitley Board of Directors. 

“… they said the reason that this camp registration website form required the pronouns of kids that were attending was because that is what was being pushed by the American Camp Association. So my alarm bells starting going off at that point… it is a national group that goes out and accredits summer camps…  they push these policies on summer camps and the last place in the world that we want to go woke is our kid’s summer camp, but that is what is happening.” 

(You can listen to more comments from the Congressman here.) 

Once Congressman Banks learned of the American Camp Association’s accreditation process, he penned the following letter to the organization’s President: 

Congressman Banks is still awaiting a response to his letter.

In the meantime, in the statement shared by the Camp Whitley Board of Directors, they say they have decided to make the question regarding preferred pronouns optional. “Moving forward we will continue to have this question on our form, but it will no longer be a requirement to answer.”

You can read their entire statement here.