From Pioneers to Bears: A New Chapter in Smith College Mascot History
Smith College, a distinguished women's liberal arts college with a rich history, has recently embraced a new symbol to represent its community: the Smith Bears. This decision marks a significant shift from its previous moniker, the Pioneers, which had been in place for nearly 40 years. The transition reflects a desire to modernize the college’s identity and better align it with the values, strengths, and aspirations of the current Smith community. The adoption of the Bears as the new mascot is more than just a change in name; it represents a meaningful step forward in the college's ongoing evolution.
The End of an Era: The Smith Pioneers
Since 1986, Smith's athletic teams were known as the Pioneers. The Pioneer name, in place for the past 40 years, was intended to speak to the pioneering spirit of women breaking through barriers and reforming the status quo. The Smith Pioneer is a representation of the many athletic firsts that have taken place at Smith. Smithies of many generations have been pioneers, and this school nurtures generations of firsts.
However, in recent years, a movement emerged to update the college’s moniker, driven by the desire for something more inclusive, representative of the campus, and unifying as a symbol that could rally the entire Smith community beyond athletics teams. This latest effort to update Smith’s moniker began in earnest in the fall of 2022 after a discussion in a Critical Sport Media class about the use of Pioneers led to a deeper conversation among student-athletes on the rowing team. The decision is a result of the organizing work of a group of students on Smith’s Crew team: Caroline Durr ’24, Sofia Trotta (graduate student), Willa Goldman ’23 and Katherine Graham ’23. In Feb. 2023, they approached Athletic Director Kristin Hughes to share their concerns about the history and colonialist associations with the term “pioneer” and what implications that mascot has on Smith’s community. In March 2024, the group organized a campus-wide panel under the same title. This panel more directly addressed the intent as opposed to the impact of having the Pioneers as a mascot.
The Dawn of the Bears: A Symbol of Strength and Unity
After a multi-year effort, led by students, to update the college’s moniker, Smith College announced on Wednesday it would change its moniker from the Pioneers to the Smith Bears. The new moniker was shared with the board of trustees last week. Smith College is the second of the five colleges to change its moniker. In 2016, nearby Amherst College underwent a similar process, dropping “Lord Jeff” and eventually adopting the Mammoth as its new mascot.
“I’m thrilled we’ll be the Smith Bears!” said President Sarah Willie-LeBreton. “When I arrived, our students were already asking if we might update our moniker. And I was truly heartened that once the request for input went out, more than a thousand students, alums, faculty, and staff contributed suggestions. Personally, I found the anticipation of when and where the committee would land unbearable. Bears had lots of support, are native to New England, and are strong and determined.
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According to Keller, the Bears moniker beat out nearly 1,000 other candidates for the new name. Both Hughes and Corey are looking forward to building excitement around the new moniker and unveiling a visual representation of it in the fall. “This is a change that is supposed to bring joy and excitement,” Corey said.
Honoring Senda Berenson: A Basketball Pioneer
Notably, the new nickname pays homage to Senda Berenson, who served as a director of physical training from 1892 to 1911 and who is credited with launching the women’s basketball team at Smith. Honoring Berenson’s impact through the new moniker felt only natural. Berenson has been inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
“She [Berenson] brought in this expectation that women should move around, be active and that was going to contribute to them being whole people able to do all the things they wanted to do,” said Alexandra Keller, the vice president for campus life and dean of the college, in an interview. “That really tied in well with Sophia Smith’s mission in founding the college.”
Smith College is changing its new mascot and nickname to the Smith Bears, in memory of Senda Berenson. The nod to Berenson, considered to be the founder of women’s basketball, is particularly relevant given Smith’s recent success in the sport. The basketball team has made finals of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament the last two years, establishing themselves as a perennial contender in the sport and solidifying basketball as the school’s premier athletics program.
The Bear as a Symbol: Embodiment of Smith Values
The bear was chosen, according to Keller, for a number of reasons. Piper Corey ’25, a government major, vice president of the Student Government Association, and a member of the Moniker Committee, described bears as “empathetic, joyful, playful, social, and altruistic.
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Beyond the connection to Berenson, Keller said that there were other factors that went into the Bears name. Black bears are native to the area around Northampton, with notable instances in past years of bears wandering into the city and on Smith Campus. “The students on the committee talked about their bear stories on campus, about how their social media would blow up whenever there was a bear,” Keller said. “There’s something really exciting about that, so it sort of tilted us toward bears.”
A Mascot for the Future: Inclusivity and Playfulness
Karly Toledo ’21, a former Smith rower who is a member of the Navajo Nation and was one of the students to begin conversations in 2022 about making the moniker more inclusive, is excited by the new Smith Bears moniker and the potential it has for instilling a sense of playfulness and fun across campus.
“I can’t wait to see how Smithies take the bear and make it their own,” she said.
A Look Back: Previous Smith College Mascots
Throughout its history, Smith College has had a variety of monikers and mascots-even the Unicorns! Much like the school itself, the Smith College mascot has evolved over the years. Most students are aware that today we are known as the Pioneers, but that has not always been the case. In 1880, Smith first adopted a crest with the Virgin Mary on it. The crest was accompanied by our motto, “In Virtue, Knowledge.” Although it is doubtful early Smithies dubbed themselves “The Virgins,” the Virgin Mary can technically be called our first mascot.
In the 1950s there was in our house a yellow stuffed kangaroo with a baby in its pouch-Smith College’s mascot at the time.
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