Voices of Change Project
Made as part of our 40th Anniversary Voices of Change Project, these voices celebrate our past and present. We hope it will inspire you to become part of our future.
We are one of the nation’s oldest Women’s Centers, founded in 1973, and we work with students, staff and faculty of all genders and identities. The Penn Women’s Center’s mission is to promote gender justice, and to empower, support, and advance personal and professional development.
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 40 years, the center has been active in promoting the rights of women 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!
Penn Women’s Center Director makes history as first Black woman to hold post
Sherisse Laud-Hammond is a modern-day pioneer at the University of Pennsylvania. She’s the first Black woman to lead the Penn Women’s Center, one of the oldest women’s centers in the country.
2021 Women of Color at Penn Awards
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.