On November 30, 1850, Mississippi College established a lasting partnership with the Mississippi Baptists, who since 1817 had resolved to prepare congregants for gospel ministry. Founded in 1826, Mississippi College had first sought alliances with the legislature in 1837, Methodists in 1840, and Presbyterians in 1842. Mississippi College and the Baptists forged a covenant of cooperation that joined the Baptists' commitment to the cause of Christ with the college's dedication to academic excellence. Their union advanced the university across two centuries and set a course for its future.