The Dartmouth College case, a case that questioned the constitutionality of the institution operating as a private college, had opened a wide range of freedom for the establishment of private or denominational schools, and the charter was issued by special legislative act. Wesleyan was founded as a result of an educational renaissance in Ohio, a process described as "denomination-ridden, poverty-stricken...in fact not colleges at all, but glorified high schools or academies that presumed to offer degrees". However, in the early days the Methodist denomination constituted a minority among the school's graduates.