Timeline 

April 1972: Bobbie Granger submits the proposal for a Department of Women's Studies at the University of Pennsylvania to Dean R. Jean Brownlee and other administrators in preparation for meeting with President Meyerson. 

October 1972: The Penn authored "Summer Project Report, a Descriptive Analysis of the Results of a National Survey" that surveys the field of women’s studies, has wide distribution throughout the country and is now considered an early classic in the field 

January 1973: Women's Studies CTS (College of Thematic Studies) begins. 98 students and 13 faculty participate in CTS sponsored seminars on Women. 

March 1973: Dr. Elizabeth Kennedy, Assistant Professor of American Studies at SUNY (Buffalo), and two students from the same university, are consultants for PWSP. 

April 1973: An ad hoc group of women conducted a "Stop Rape" sit-in at College Hall and presented ten demands to the University administration "for security improvements, education to prevent rape, and medical, legal, and psychological support for victims." The number of demonstrators "ranged from 200 by day to 20 overnight" and included students, faculty, and staff. Negotiations focused on the design of a proposed Women's Center at Penn and the hiring of a security specialist dedicated full time to women's safety issues, as well as on physical plant improvements aimed at improving campus safety, such as new outdoor lighting, additional emergency telephones, and expansion of the University bus service. 

November 15, 1974: University of Pennsylvania Women’s Studies Conference.  

1975: The first NEH pilot grant for $50,000 is received to develop several new interdisciplinary courses and raise awareness of faculty. The grant provided funding from July 1, 1976 until June 30, 1977 to support the development of interdisciplinary courses and raise awareness of the Women’s programming amongst faculty and student. The grant was extended until December 30, 1977. 

July 1, 1975: The male-only College of Arts & Sciences merges with the women-only College of Liberal Arts to create the new Faculty of Arts & Sciences. 

February 1976: Women’s Studies is awarded a $3,500 grant from the Ford Foundation to assist with the planning of the National Women’s Studies Conference 

September 1976: The University has become fully co-educational. Penn's thirteen schools are now open to men and women "on equal terms" and women were enrolled in every degree program offered by the University. 

Spring 1977: Visiting Professorship in Women’s Studies funded through NEH monies. The first appointment was to Dr. Amalie Rorty (Professor of Philosophy) from Livingston College/Rutgers University. 

1978: WS receives $79,000 NEH Grant to pursue curriculum development 

January 30, 1978: WS & WC receive a grant from the Pennsylvania Public Committee for the Humanities for a seven-part series on “Women’s Special Status”. 

Fall 1978: WS, CGS, and the GSE fund “The Summer Institute”, a program for high school teachers in which they were provided with the latest women’s studies scholarship within their teaching field and new methods to teach their students. 

Fall 1978: Women students founded Lesbians at Penn (LAP). 

January 1979: The University amended its non-discrimination policy to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.  

1979/1980: A team from the NEH and two professors visit WS and APC 

1979/1980: Joan Shapiro, Co-director of WS, begins the Access to Power: A Program in Leadership Education (AP.P.L.E.). The program is aimed to explore leadership possibilities especially for women and minorities and help them to become stronger leaders on and off campus. WS is awarded a two-year FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) grant from the US government totaling $130,000 ($65,000 per year) to support its AP.P.L.E. program 

Spring 1980: LAP merged with its male counterpart, Gays at Penn (GAP). The combined student organization took the name Lesbians and Gays at Penn (LGAP) and was formally recognized by the Student Activities Council (SAC).  

1983/1984: The Individualized Major committees decided that the Women's Studies Program could supervise its own majors. 

1983/1984: The graduation of WS first dual degree students with the School of Nursing and Wharton 

1983/1984: WS founds the Penn Mid-Atlantic Seminar on the Study of Women in Society conference  

1983/1984: WS receives Pennsylvania Humanities Council grant

December 1984: The Alice Paul Research Center for the Study of Women is founded 

March 1985: WS receives NEH funding for Collaborations & Connections in Women's Studies Research Conference  

1985/1986: WS, GSE, & SAS Faculty begin to develop and plan a proposed Masters of Education in Women’s Studies Degree. 

Spring 1986: A new interdisciplinary Women’s Studies Major was approved by the Faculty of SAS and SAS Curriculum Committee 

April 20, 1988: WS 15th Anniversary 

1989: Then Director, Janice Madden, abandons initial goal of becoming a department and instead focuses on increasing funding for the program. 

November 18, 1989: Angela Y. Davis, educator and civil rights activist, speaks at Penn (Afro-American Studies; Women's Studies) 

1991-1992: Conversations and planning begin for a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies 

1991: Judith Roth Berkowitz Endowed Lecture in Women's Studies established by then Director, Janice Madden 

April 6, 1992: Anita Hill speaks about sexual harassment as part of the Berkowitz Endowed Lecture in Women’s Studies, and is the inaugural speaker for the series 

June 22, 1992: The McLean Contributionship donates $200,000 to WS to establish the R. Jean Brownlee Fund in Women’s Studies 

October 21, 1992: WS 20th Anniversary 

1995: Graduate certificate approved 

1996-1997: Five students receive graduate certificates  

1997: WS External Review 

September 24-25, 1998: WS 25th Anniversary 

1998/1999: WS receives $20,000 grant from De-Witt Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund 

1998/1999: WS offers first service learning course in partnership with the Netter Center. The course is entitled “Girl Talk: Gender, Race, & Class in West Philadelphia”. 

1999/2000: Alumna (CW’66) and former Penn President Judith Rodin donates her $50,000 Sara Lee Leadership Award to WS & APC.  

2000/2001: APC establishes the Faculty Grant-Writing Support Fund 

2000/2001: APC begins pilot project in their policy partnership program with Women’s Way, part of the United Way. 

November 2002: With a grant from the William Penn Foundation- APC and its Policy Partner Women’s Way publish a report on economic inequality between men and women with an emphasis in the greater Philadelphia region.  

October 2003: WS 30th Anniversary 

2003/2004: The first ever Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Prize in Women’s Studies is awarded to the senior with the most outstanding thesis. 

2004/2005: WS & APC encourage development of the growing area of Sexuality Studies while working with a small group of faculty involved in WS and the LGBT academic task force 

2004/2005: APC is awarded a $10,000 grant from the Wallace Foundation-New York Community Trust 

2005/2006: WS major is reconfigured and renamed as “Gender, Culture, & Society” to reach a broader audience of students.  

2005/2006: The Lynda Hart Prize in Gender & Sexuality Studies is established to honor a senior thesis or seminar paper in the field of LGBT Studies.  

2005/2006: Leboy-Davies Fellowship in Women’s Studies established 

2008/2009: Phyllis Rackin Fellowship for Feminist Scholarship in the Humanities is established  

2008/2009: Post-doctoral fellowship in the Alice Paul Center is created.   

March 2009: Rethinking Sex: Gender and Sexuality Studies - A State of The Field Conference is hosted by WS, APC, & The LGBT Center, more than 700 people attend 

October 30, 2009: GSOC 35th Anniversary 

2011/2012: WS provides support for the “Colors Project” a publication of student articles, essays, poems, fiction, and interviews by queer people of color. This is the first LGBT publication at Penn and the first in the Ivy league. 

2011/2012: GSWS & APC initiate and organize the Pedagogy Seminar series for graduate students. 

2011/2012: GSWS, APC, & SAS provide funding for a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow-Jeanne Vaccaro, for AY 2012-2014 

October/November 2013: GSWS cosponsors Queer method conference 

February 27-28, 2014: GSWS 40th Anniversary 

2013/2014: GSWS, APC, & SAS provide funding for a second Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow-Kirk Fiereck, for AY 2014-2016 

2015/2016- APC implements a Visiting Scholar-in-Residence Program to bring scholars of color or LGBT scholars to GSWS/APC 

2015/2016: Nancy Hirschman, then director, presents a proposal to university administration on creating and funding a Diversity Chair position. 

2015/2016: GSWS revises graduate certificate requirements as well as its undergraduate major to include new areas of research including LGBTQ studies as central to the study of gender 

March 22, 2016: GSWS, APC, & the LGBT Center host “After Obergefell: What’s next for the LGBTQ movement” panel discussion  

2016/2017: GSWS developed a proposal for a Cluster Hire in LGBTQ Studies 

2021: Beans Velocci hired as the first of three faculty members in the cluster hire

2021: The GSWS Executive Board votes to change the name of the Alice Paul Center to the Center for Feminist, Queer, and Transgender Studies

2024: The GSWS Program and FQT Center celebrate their 50th anniversary