Ascension Hall is considered by Tinsley's biographer, J.D. Forbes, to be one of the architect's masterpieces. Built of olive shale–-the same stone used in Kokosing, the Church of the Holy Spirit, and Christ Church at the Quarry–-the structure was a gift of the Church of the Ascension in New York City. Among its outstanding features are the second and third floor lecture halls--Philomathesian and Nu Pi Kappa, respectively–-which were assigned to the College's two literary societies.