Goodrich was adept in drafting the charter and lobbying legislators who shared his abolitionist views and the charter was passed during the first session of the General Assembly and signed by Governor Augustus French on January 28, 1851. Constituted as the "Trustees of the North-Western University," the new institution was the first university in Illinois and consisted of the founders as well as representatives from the neighboring Methodist conferences. Evans and Lunt initially each donated $5,000 to endow the university which permitted them to purchase 16 lots on the northeast corner of Jackson Boulevard and LaSalle Street for $8,000 as a potential site for the campus.