Classes began in May 1857 with three buildings, five faculty members, 63 male students, and a college president, Joseph R. Williams. Williams, a Harvard University Phi Beta Kappa, was a self-made gentleman farmer and prominent Michigan attorney. He was a passionate promoter of higher education for the farming and working classes. The fledgling college hired several well-educated faculty members who had studied in prominent east coast schools. In cramped College Hall, these scholars developed well-equipped laboratories with then-rare microscopes and other state-of-the-art scientific equipment. Under Williams, following input from the faculty, the College established a curriculum offering two-thirds science and one-third liberal arts coursework, which was far more science than was required at liberal arts colleges of the day.