History

Founded in 1976 by Charles Persky and Ann Raimes, the Hunter College RWC is a comprehensive service at the college that reflects the growth and development of pedagogical thought and practice within the City University of New York in relation to both critical reading and academic writing over the past four decades.

As illustrated in the RWC timeline, the Center evolved from a small-group discussion program under the auspices of the English Department at Hunter to a limited tutorial program for students enrolled in development writing, composition, and literature courses. The Center was established primarily in response to the influx of students, many of whom were the first in their families to attend college as well as non-native speakers of English, which resulted in response to the policy of open admissions adopted by the City University in the early 1970s.

In time, the Writing Center expanded to serve a wider range of students and addressed the need to provide similar services to students enrolled in developmental reading courses. Operating independently as separate programs, the Writing Center and Reading Resource Center were eventually merged as a single entity reporting to the Provost of the college. The renamed Hunter College Reading/Writing Center (now the RWC) would thereafter provide tutoring services in both academic writing and critical reading.

Now one of the most utilized services at the college, the RWC provides tutorial assistance and academic advisement to undergraduate and graduate students at the college as well as technical support and development to faculty and staff, serving students from disciplines across the curriculum and from all divisions and schools of the Hunter community.