Ohio State University's (OSU) Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center is a rarity in academia, as was its namesake. When OSU named its standout Black cultural center after the civil rights activist, professor and vice provost who championed such a place, it was commemorating what Dr. Frank W. Hale Jr. stood for. He promoted academic rigor, those who knew him say. He was a lover of art and oratory. He spotlighted the hallmark differences among people, but also their common humanity. He believed every person specialized in something and that such specialties should never be ignored. Hale is credited with helping OSU graduate more Black Ph.D.s than any other U.S. college during the 1970s. During a 24-year tenure there, he had been an associate dean of OSU's graduate school and graduate fellowship committee chair, vice provost for minority affairs and special assistant to the president. Hale subsequently became a professor emeritus at OSU, venturing regularly to the campus--despite a battle with pancreatic cancer--until a few months before his death when doctors advised him to rest at home instead. The Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center operates seven days a week and, by the most recent count, receives roughly 120,000 visitors and tourists annually. Around early 2013, the Hale Center is slated to move into even larger quarters on the bottom two floors of Enarson Hall, OSU's first student union, a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.