Formed in 1973, the Penn Women’s Center (PWC) emerged as a central locus of activity, advocacy, and activism within the campus community. For more than 30 years, the PWC has been supporting students and other Penn community members through advising, advocacy, counseling, educational programs, networking, policy development, referrals, social events and workshops.

Today, the Penn Women’s Center is a campus resources providing a wide range of services. It is a source of support for a variety of campus community issues with special expertise in the areas of educational equity, violence against women, personal and community safety, health and sexuality, diversity and human relations

The mission of the Penn Women's Center (PWC) is to ensure that the University of Pennsylvania is responsive to women's concerns in any activity and at all levels. The PWC serves students, faculty, staff, and community members. In order to meet these goals the following services are provided: services to individuals (advising, advocacy, counseling/case management, information and referral, etc.), educational programming (workshops, presentations, conferences etc.) policy development and implementation (consultation, training), networking (on and off campus) and administration. The Penn Women's Center is a campus based resource for a variety of women's issues. Staff members possess a wide variety of expertise in the areas of educational equity, violence against women, personal and community safety, health and sexuality, diversity and human relations and community building .

In pursuing the goal of educational equity for all, the Penn Women's Center supports the mission of the Vice Provost for University Life by serving, "undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and the faculty, staff and alumni who nurture their interests and aspirations." Additionally, the PWC shares the VPUL commitment to "provide consistently high quality services that effectively and efficiently foster the integration of students' intellectual, cultural, personal, and social experiences at the University of Pennsylvania." Further, the PWC’s roles and functions contribute significantly to the education, research, and service mission of the University of Pennsylvania as outlined in Penn's "Agenda for Excellence."

Today, the Penn Women's Center is an office within the University Life Division. The Penn Women's Center is unique in two ways: First, the Penn Women's Center, unlike most University offices, provides services for a broad base of constituents including students, faculty, staff and community women. Second, the Penn Women's Center has an explicitly advocacy function as it relates to issues affecting women, racial minorities, sexual minorities and other disenfranchised groups.
As the major spokesperson for women on campus, the Women's Center staff frequently makes public statements about women's concerns. The Women's Center does, however, maintain a policy of strict confidentiality with regard to individual women we counsel and advise. Occasionally a victim needs public support, and with her permission, we will be public advocates on her behalf.