The Leona and Marcy Chanin Language Center

In 1993, Hunter College submitted a grant request to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that asked for support for--among other projects--the establishment of a Hunter College Language Center. Indeed, the NEH awarded the college a $500,000 grant; but this gift was dependent upon a 3:1 match. When approached, Leona Chanin--who was a language major while at Hunter--thought the idea of a state-of-the art language facility an important opportunity for Hunter College and generously donated two-thirds, or $1 million, of the match in support of the project.

Their gift is a tribute, in part, to Hunter's commitment to the study of foreign languages. The language departments have given the college a reputation as a center of excellence at the City University of New York, making Hunter the appropriate site for a modern, up-to-date language teaching and learning center.

Hunter College installed its original Language Lab in 1958. It received a moderate upgrade in 1967 and was completely renovated in 1975. In the Spring of 1999, The Leona & Marcy Chanin Language Center opened its doors offering language resources via cutting edge computer technology. The state-of-the art Language Center is a specially designed space that is the hub for Hunter students who wish to study foreign languages.

The Language Center makes possible total language immersion in an international atmosphere. The Center includes a large club-type multimedia facility used as a lecture hall, a lounge, a library, as well as, a Lab and a multimedia classroom. The space is designed so that students are afforded ample opportunity to practice the foreign language being studied through films, audio and video programs, and lots of interactive computer language-applications available to individual students and classes.