The opening of the university was made possible by the wealth coming from the Victorian gold rush. The university was to be a "civilising influence" at a time of rapid settlement and commercial growth (Selleck, 2003). It was not a religious university and was not allowed to offer in degrees in divinity. The churches could only build colleges on only the northern edge. The local population wanted 'useful' subjects like law, not 'useless' subjects like classics. The people of Melbourne won this argument, and law was introduced in 1857, and medicine and engineering in the 1860s. Women were let into courses in 1881.