NORTHAMPTON — After years of deliberation on deciding a new nickname and mascot, Smith College has chosen the bear.

The college announced on Wednesday it would change its moniker from the Pioneers, a name it has used for more than 40 years, to the Smith Bears. 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. She also introduced fencing and field hockey to the college’s athletics program.

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.”

The hunt for a new nickname has been in the process for several years, with a large majority of student athletes surveyed saying they felt “disconnected” from the Pioneers moniker. Although the Pioneers nickname is meant to pay homage to pioneering women throughout history and at Smith, in recent years the word “pioneer” has come to have connotations with the country’s colonial history, leading to concerns about inclusivity on campus.

“When I arrived, our students were already asking if we might update our moniker,” said Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton in a statement. “Bears had lots of support, are native to New England, and are strong and determined. Best of all, everyone who cheers for Smith — Smithies and beyond — can be a Smith Bear!”

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.

To assist with deciding a new name for its athletics teams, the college convened its own Moniker Committee last year, consisting of students, student-athletes and faculty such as Keller Smith Athletics Director Kristin Hughes. According to Keller, the Bears moniker beat out nearly 1,000 other candidates for the new name.

“When we looked at the categories of things that people suggested, there were more animals than anything,” Keller said. “And bears were really high on the list.”

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. Other local animals like squirrels and owls were also considered, but Keller said bears brought more of an energy that appealed to students.

“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.”

Karly Toledo, a 2023 graduate and former Smith rower who is a member of the Navajo Nation, 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 in a statement.

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 college plans to introduce a new mascot, named Senda the Bear, along with an official logo of the new moniker, both of which are expected to be unveiled at a later date. The arrival of the new name also comes as the school celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, having been opened its doors to admissions in 1875.

“Because we are in our 150th year, it seemed like a really good moment to make a decision and have a new thing to bring everyone together for the next 150 years,” Keller said. “It’s really been a good process from my perspective.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.