UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Yvette Willson was named the new director for the Gender Equity Center, a unit of Student Affairs, and started the position on Feb. 21. She is transitioning to this role after serving as the center’s interim director since June 2021.
The Gender Equity Center supports students impacted by sexual violence, relationship violence, stalking, harassment, and other campus climate issues. In addition, the office works to educate the campus community about gender equity and provides workshops and resources on the prevention of power-based personal violence.
“I am very honored to have been selected for this important role,” Willson said. “I am excited to be part of the movement at Penn State in becoming a leader in supporting survivors, conducting effective sexual violence prevention education, and eradicating these issues so that all students are safe and can achieve their goals at Penn State and beyond.”
The director of the center serves as a resource and subject matter expert for advocacy-based programs and activities across the University. The director works in tandem with other units at the University to disseminate policies, strategies and aspiring practices across units, and works to foster infrastructure that ensures the availability and access of resources, support, and services to students across the University community.
“Yvette’s deep commitment to gender equity is longstanding and tested through the various roles she has played in our community,” said Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs. “Her advocacy skills are unquestioned, and there is much work to be done requiring advocacy, empathy, and partnership, all of which I know Yvette will apply well and successfully for the benefit of our students.”
In her interim director role, Willson was responsible for various efforts including the development and promotion of work that focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). She also worked to connect with peer institutions in auditing their work related to gender equity – especially in regard to programming, student engagement initiatives, and broader cultural change.
Willson has 25 years of experience advocating and empowering survivors in her work as a practicing attorney, prosecutor, leader and investigator. Prior to becoming interim director for the Gender Equity Center, Willson was the associate director and an investigator for Penn State’s Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response, also a unit of Student Affairs.
Willson has extensive experience in working with survivors in a trauma-informed manner. Before coming to the University, Willson served as director of and an attorney for Centre Safe/Women’s Resource Center Law Office in Bellefonte. Before that, she was assistant district attorney in the Centre County District Attorney’s Office.
Willson noted that this new role brings her experience full circle and allows her to focus on the work she started in law school as a volunteer for a local domestic violence shelter on a crisis hotline.
“Through her 25 years of experience as a practicing attorney, prosecutor, leader and investigator, Yvette has focused her career on advocating for all survivors while empowering them to make the decisions that they know is best for their unique situation,” said Brian Patchcoski, assistant vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Student Affairs. “In her role as interim director, Yvette truly made a profound impact on the future direction of the center and the students connected with the services offered. I sincerely believe Yvette will raise up our gender equity work in new ways to the benefit of our various student communities.”
Willson received her associate degree from the College of San Mateo, her bachelor’s degree from the University of California Santa Cruz, and her juris doctor from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School.