COLUMBUS -- With additional space, programming and equipment, the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center is poised to meet future needs of minority students at The Ohio State University.

The newly renovated Hale center at 153 W. 12th Ave. will celebrate its grand opening from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on April 26.

The event will feature a keynote speech by the Rev. Leon Sullivan. In 1977, he initiated the Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct widely acknowledged to be one of the most effective efforts to end discrimination against blacks in the workplace in apartheid South Africa.

Sullivan is the founder of Opportunities Industrialization (OIC), which since its inception in 1964 has provided skills training to more than 3 million people throughout the world. He also has worked with business and political leaders to oversee a global effort for the advancement of human rights, equal opportunity and social and economic justice for workers and communities everywhere. Sullivan received an honorary degree for his work from Ohio State in 1996.

He will speak from 7 to 8 p.m., Independence Hall Auditorium, 1923 Neil Ave. After his speech students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to join Frank W. Hale Jr., now distinguished university representative and consultant, for student recruitment, fund raising and alumni relations, in a march from Independence Hall to the Hale Center for the ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:30 p.m.

Other activities throughout the day include tours of the center, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; entertainment every hour on the hour, featuring The African American Voices at The Ohio State University singing songs of African-American tradition, Tony West and the Imani Dancers and The Ohio State University Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Ted McDaniel; and an exhibition of selected art works by Larry Winston Collins, Sam Gilliam, Pheoris West and others.

In 1985, Hale, who was then vice provost for minority affairs, recognized the need for a cultural center for minority students on campus and took his idea to then-President Edward H. Jennings. The Black Cultural Center, now named for Hale, was established in 1989 and is part of the Office of Minority Affairs.

Program manager Larry Williamson Jr. said the Hale Center's mission is to develop and maintain supportive programs and activities for the development and advancement of both minority and non-minority students.

"The Hale Center provides a rich and diverse environment where students can learn and make life-long friendships through academic support, cultural activities, lectures, gallery tours and celebrations," he said. "It also serves as an instrument of orientation and instruction to the larger community on issues of race, politics, economics and community."

The center also documents the contributions of blacks to the world of arts, letters and science.

"For more than a decade the Hale Center has stood as a symbol of Ohio State's commitment to and support of the university's minority community," said Timothy Knowles, vice provost for minority affairs. "Now as we move into the new millennium, the center's expansion will allow the university to continue to serve the needs of its ever-growing and changing minority population."

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