On March 12, 2025, Smith College released an announcement that they are committed to changing the school mascot from the Pioneers, which have been Smith’s mascot since 1986, to a moniker that better represents the values and interests of the Smith community by the end of the academic year. They sent out a survey where students can submit up to three nominations for the new mascot for a period of two weeks. No current or former mascots can be nominated.
Posts tagged as “Hillary Connor”
With 20% of Smith students calling the West Coast home and California being one of the most represented states on campus, the California wildfires have devastated the Smith community. California’s Incident Archive states that in 2025 alone, there have been 359 wildfires, 29 fatalities and 16,248 structures destroyed. Gaby Ayala Becerra ’25 and Hadley Vareschi-Woelfel ’25, with the help of Smith Athletics and the Smith Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), have transformed their grief into action by organizing a campus-wide Jog-a-Thon to raise money for relief efforts.
On Feb. 4, the Department of Education (ED) sent a “Dear Colleague” letter stating that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will be reverting back to the 2020 Title IX Rule, created by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos during Trump’s first term.
One of WOZQ’s newest radio shows, “The W in Win,” covers global women’s sports news as well as prominent Smith Athletics performances and events. The show airs every Thursday from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and is hosted by Syd Levine ’27, Sarah Formica ’27 and Kylie Cave ’28. There is also an archive of past episodes available on Mixlr.
Editor's Note: this article was originally a part of our September Print edition.
Smith’s ultimate frisbee team, LunaDisc, is open to all students regardless of ability or experience level. The organization operates as a single team socially, but they are split up into two teams for competition: Luna is the “A” team or the team for more experienced players, while Sola (short for solar eclipse) is a more developmental league that provides hands-on support and practice for newer players. Each team has two captains: Al Torrens-Martin ’25 and Sophia Jerome ’27 lead Luna, while Ginger Silverman ’26 and Syd Pichette ’27 lead Sola.
Smith Crew in Review: On Hard Work, Accessibility and Unity
Photo courtesy of Smith College Athletics
For the past few years, the Smith College Crew team has consistently been ranking in the top ten Division III teams in the country, but this season has been one to remember. Three Smith athletes, out of a total of 18 athletes nationally, were recognized by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) as “rowers to watch”: Megan Holm ’24, Linnea Schultz ’24 and Sofia Trotta ’25.
Katherine Welsh ’26 of the Smith Swim and Dive team placed 13th in the 1-meter dive and 14th in the 3-meter dive at the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Diving Championships hosted by Colby College in Waterville, Maine on Mar. 1-2, 2024. This is the second time Welsh has qualified for Regionals in her career at Smith and her highest placement so far.
Smith Athletics boasts a mission committed to “prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion” for both student-athletes and staff, but behind the scenes, Smith College Athletic Department is dependent on the unpaid labor of the graduate student assistant coaches.
Smith Rugby won the New England Wide Collegiate Rugby Conference (NEWCRC) championships for the second year in a row on Nov. 4. Throughout the fall season, Smith Rugby fought hard and held their own against the 20 other teams in the NEWCRC to qualify for the conference championship. On the day of the championship, dressed head to toe in their signature red and black uniforms, Smith defeated Yale 24 to 17 in a close game to win the title.