Founded in 1973, Penn Women's Center is one of the nation’s oldest women's centers. Our mission is to advance gender justice for the entire Penn community through an intersectional framework that embraces all identities. We achieve this by advocating, fostering community, facilitating learning, mentoring, and providing support.
The Penn Women’s Center was founded in April 1973 after protestors occupied College Hall for four days to protest a series of rapes on campus. We moved to our current location on Locust Walk in the early 1990s, following the “Diversify Locust Walk” movement that sought to make Penn safer for minorities and female students. For over 50 years, the center has been active in promoting the rights of women and gender-marginalized individuals on campus and beyond. We strive to include voices of gender, sexual, and racial minorities, acknowledging that feminism has historically been white and cis-centered. Come visit us to walk through a timeline of our history!
On March 19, the Women of Color at Penn honored the award winners whose work has promoted education, cultural diversity, and positive change on campus and in the world. The Staff award went to Sherisse Laud-Hammond from the Penn Women’s Center.