After surmounting steep ideological and financial obstacles Mary Lyon was finally able to bring her vision to fruition. On November 8, 1837 the first class of 77 students occupied the not yet completed building. The Seminary building stood on ten acres that sloped from the main road down to the Stony Brook. The early years of the Seminary were characterized by Lyon’s vision for a familial institution with rigorous academic entrance requirements and a curriculum modeled after that of the prominent male institutions of the time.