[citation needed] The Synod, meeting in 1871 at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, accepted an offer that year of $16,500 in cash subscriptions from the citizens of Callaway County and 4 acres (16,000 m2) of land, donated by Daniel M. Tucker.
Synodical was a successor institution to the Fulton Female Academy, which had been opened by Rev.
The initial steps toward the goal included an affiliation agreement with Westminster College to share some faculty and courses.
[citation needed] The Academy, and later the College, were home to several early sorority chapters.
These included what became 4-year college sororities: Delta Gamma (1882-1885), Beta Sigma Omicron (1891-1928), and Alpha Kappa Psi (1913-1916), along with several 2-year societies: Eta Upsilon Gamma (1918-1921), Theta Tau Epsilon (1923-1928), Phi Theta Kappa (1925-1928), and Sigma Iota Chi (1925-1028).