But the hope of admitting women to the classes in Arts had not been abandoned. On October 25th, 1882, Professor Clark Murray moved at a meeting of the Arts Faculty a resolution, which was carried, to the effect "that the educational advantages of the Faculty of Arts should be thrown open to all persons without distinction of sex." In the summer of 1884 a deputation of women who had already passed the examinations for Associate in Arts waited on Principal Dawson and asked that opportunities be provided in the College to enable them to proceed to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The obstacle in the way of granting this request was the lack of funds. But a few weeks after the request was made, Sir Donald Smith agreed to give a sum of $50,000 for the purpose, on conditions to be settled by him. These conditions stipulated that the classes for women were to be wholly separate and distinct from those for men, and that no expenditure was to be incurred beyond the income of the endowment. The offer was accepted by the Board of Governors. The sum given was sufficient to provide the necessary duplicate courses for the first and second years in the Arts Faculty, and in the autumn of 1884 the first session for women in McGill commenced with fourteen regular and thirteen partial students. The women's classes were given in the lecture rooms of the east wing of the Arts Building. The students were known as "Donaldas," after the name of their generous benefactor, and the course was known as the "Donalda" course. After two years had passed, in October, 1886, Sir Donald Smith increased his endowment to $120,000 in order to provide sufficient income for courses in all four years, and thereby to enable women students to proceed to the B.A. degree. In the session of 1886-87 there were twenty regular and fifty-eight partial students enrolled in women's courses, and in 1887-88 the number increased to twenty-six regular and eighty-two partial students. At the end of that session eight women received for the first time the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Higher education for women in McGill was now an assured fact. The Principal's dream had at last been realised.