In the context of the modern global society and economy, foreign language instruction is placing more emphasis on students' cross-cultural understanding and on using language to develop students' communication skills. These goals are evidenced by the current interest in Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum (FLAC) courses, which teach languages through content instruction in specific areas. FLAC courses are particularly relevant to two-year colleges since the teacher-student relationship is more personalized and there is generally a student-centered orientation. These courses can also help overcome the barriers to language instruction since they focus on content and make language classes relevant and functional. The success of the approach, however, depends upon institution-wide commitment and high-level administrative support. To make foreign languages a central component of the curriculum, Richland College (RC) in Dallas, Texas, founded the International Language Institute in 1990, offering language instruction in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese. Encouraged by the highest levels of the administration, all RC language faculty underwent a year-long training program in proficiency-based teaching, and RC hosted a 2-week seminar in proficiency strategies for local high school language teachers. Other initiatives include the purchase of a state-of-the-art, computerized language lab and the implementation of a two-semester Business Spanish sequence based on a local needs assessment. Community college administrators are especially qualified to assume leadership positions with such innovative foreign language initiatives. (PAA)