Student Life - Support Centers & Student Communities

Civic House
Civic House is the University of Pennsylvania's hub for student-led community service and social advocacy work. Civic House promotes mutually beneficial collaborations between the Penn and West Philadelphia communities, and beyond. Through education, community connections, and other resources,
Civic House prepares students for responsible and effective civic engagement and leadership.

Graduate Student Center
The Graduate Student Center was established in 2001 to meet the unique
needs of graduate and professional students at Penn. The Center:

La Casa Latina
La Casa Latina is a Center devoted to developing greater awareness of Latino issues, culture and identity on Penn’s campus. La Casa Latina provides a supportive environment where students are welcome to discuss and understand issues of importance to them. The Center supports students through resources and services that foster the integration of their academic, social, cultural, and community service activities to enrich their Penn experience. La Casa Latina strives to be a Center where all Latinos and non-Latinos can participate and learn from each other in order to enrich the intercultural experience of the Penn Community.

Greenfield Intercultural Center
The Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center (GIC) at the University Pennsylvania was established in 1984 to serve the needs of Penn's student of color communities and to promote understanding and interaction between students of all backgrounds at Penn. The GIC is located at 3708 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

The Center supports the United Minorities Council and its affliated groups and designs and implements intercultural programs for the campus community.

Additionally, the staff at the GIC welcomes the opportunity to serve as a resource on a host of issues related to diversity. Our Video Library can be used as resources to facilitate dialogue about the contributions of communities of color in America as well as the issues that impact these communities.

Kelly Writers House
Founded in 1995 by a group of students, faculty, staff and alumni, the Kelly Writers House is an actual 13-room house at 3805 Locust Walk on Penn's campus that serves as a center for writers of all kinds from Penn and the Philadelphia region at large. Each semester the Writers House hosts approximately 150 public programs and projects--poetry readings, film screenings, seminars, web magazines, lectures, dinners, radio broadcasts, workshops, art exhibits, and musical performances--and about 500 people visit the House each week. They work, write, and collaborate in seminar rooms, a publications room, the "hub" office, a cozy living room, a dining room, a kitchen with plenty of space for conversation, and "the Arts Cafe," the wonderfully open south-facing room that was originally the parlor. Writers House also has a strong virtual presence. Our ongoing interactive webcasts give listeners from across the country the opportunity to talk with writers such as John Updike, Robert Creeley, Tony Kushner, and Grace Paley. And via our dozens of listservs and email discussion groups, we link writers and readers from across the country and around the world. Through its many programs and projects, the Writers House promotes the full range of contemporary literature, addressing writing both as a practice and as an object of study.

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center
The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at Penn, one of the oldest and most active programs of its kind in the country, supports Penn lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, staff, alumni, and faculty and increases the general Penn community’s understanding and acceptance of its sexual and gender minority members. Established in 1982, the Center provides a variety of services throughout the year for and concerning Penn's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

Makuu – Black Student Cultural Center
Makuu, in supporting the principles of diversity and community as defined by the University’s Agenda seeks to enrich and support Penn Student Life. The office works to both enhance the quality of life for students, with an emphasis on students of African descent and act as a point of initial contact for community interaction and discussion about relevant resources.

Makuu acts as a thread by using collaboration and centralization of professional, student, and financial resources to weave together the different centers, offices, and organizations that have both a specific and general affect on student life. This greater cohesion, created by the new hub, allows for better support of the entire student body. Makuu will focus primarily on leadership initiatives, program and resource development and recognition programs.

Makuu seeks to:

• Enhance quality of life for students
• Develop collaborative relationships with various service-providing centers and student organizations to maximize the use of all resources available to students.
• Assist in student retention through innovative and collaborative programming and sharing of relevant resources
• Increase visibility of student organizations and programming through mentorship and resource development
• Expose university to rich heritage of African Diaspora

Office of International Programs
The Office of International Programs (OIP) promotes, assists and coordinates international activities throughout the University of Pennsylvania. OIP articulates Penn's international character and global perspective - for internal and external constituencies, in the United States and in other parts of the world.

OIP's activities include the following:

Pan-Asian American Community House
VPUL’s Pan-Asian American Community House (PAACH) is a community center that develops and implements innovative programs for leadership development and community service in close collaboration with student and community groups. Browse through our site using the menu above.

Penn Women's Center
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."

Religious communities
Religious life at Penn is dynamic, varied and central to the lives of a large number of undergraduate and graduate students. There are many religious communities, worship services, programs and activities on campus and in the surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhoods. The Office of the Chaplain sponsors, supports and encourages religious activities and reflection on faith and concerns of the spiritual dimensions of life. These concerns include the relationship between personal faith and social issues.

Student Disabilities Services
The University of Pennsylvania is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for all students, including students with disabilities. The Office of Student Disabilities Services (SDS) provides comprehensive, professional services and programs for students with disabilities to ensure equal academic opportunities and participation in University-sponsored programs. The Office provides the following services:

Located in the Learning Resources Center , SDS collaborates with that office to provide comprehensive academic support, including learning strategies that complement accommodations, academic adjustments, and the use of auxiliary aids.

Tutoring and Learning Resources Center
The Tutoring and Learning Resources Center provides a combined set of services to enhance the academic performance of students at Penn. The following services are offered free of charge: