Penn State’s Center for Women Students announced today it will now be known as the Gender Equity Center “to better reflect its diverse services and the students it serves.” The center’s services and programs will remain the same despite the change.

“The decision to change the name was not easy and we took this task incredibly seriously,” Peggy Lorah, interim assistant vice president of diversity and inclusion for Student Affairs, said in a press release. “The center was originally founded in 1985 at the request of women students who sought a need to build an entity that supported women students in particular. When considering changing the name of the center, we worked to respect the center’s founding mission and devise a way that all our services and programs would continue to support students yet also reflect the inclusiveness and sense of community of the center.”

The center will hold a kickoff event in the HUB on Monday, September 11 from 11:30 am. to 1:30 p.m. with music, cake, and more information about the office. Attendees are also asked to donate non-perishable food items to benefit Lion’s Pantry.

The Gender Equity Center will also host feminist activist Jessica Valenti at 6:30 p.m. the same evening in Heritage Hall at the HUB. The talk is free and open to the public; ticketing information has not yet been announced.