Wu, who became a powerful figure in the People's Republic of China as a patriotic woman educator, worked tirelessly to reopen the school.

During the Nanjing Massacre, the college, led by its acting principal Minnie Vautrin,[6] harbored over 10,000 women trying to hide from the Japanese Imperial Army.

Matilda Thurston, a Mount Holyoke graduate who had previously been with the Yale Mission in Changsha, served as the first president of the college from 1913 to 1928.

Vautrin herself patrolled the campus chasing away soldiers, visited the Japanese Embassy to ask for protection, and organized the sale of rice in mat sheds that had been erected on the college grounds.

She also started Bible classes, and with the help of the refugee women, created a list of missing men to present to the Japanese Embassy.

The evacuated students and faculty members started “Ginling centers” as part of other missionary institutions in Shanghai, Wuchang, and Chengdu.

[13] As the war developed, Ginling College worked together with Huachung University and Wuchang Y.W.C.A to carry on a dressing station for the wounded soldiers.

[16] However, as anti-American propaganda began to rise, on November 14, 1950, some students accused their American sociology professor Helen Ferris of spreading anti-revolutionary messages and of attacking the Chinese-Korean alliance.

[17] On December 17, 1950, the U.S. State Department ordered freezing of all Chinese properties in the U.S. and outlawed sending funds to China—making the Smith College’s engagement with Ginling impossible.

Even though Ginling was in principle a missionary college, the faculty from the very beginning emphasized the importance of it being a “bona fide institution of higher education” that possessed rigorous academic standards.

As a result, curricula taught at Ginling often mimicked the curriculums at elite American women's liberal arts colleges in New England.

For instance, an incident in 1927 in which a group of Ginling students was found dancing with British naval men outraged the public, as it went against Chinese ideal of propriety and national pride.

Also, majors in child welfare and development often found themselves studying education in the U.S. after graduation and were able to become teachers in kindergarten and elementary school.

The college has 72 faculty and staff members on the payroll, with 58% of the full-time teachers possessing tenures, 55% holding doctor's degrees, and 50% with recent overseas study experience.

[23] During its early years, the faculty members organized enjoyable group activities with students outside of the classroom setting to create a sense of familiarity and intimacy.

[24] According to Feng, such attempts at creating solidarity “not only institutionalized a family spirit at Ginling, but also expanded the trope of the family from the institutional to the national level, and thereby cultivated among their students a collective sense of Noblesse oblige toward their nation and people.”[25] According to the official website,[26] these traditions also came into place under the leadership of President Wu Yifang: Founders’ Day was observed every year to celebrate the founders who did pioneer work in the education of women in China.

[28] Ginling's first home was an old-style Chinese residence in Embroidery Alley (绣花巷) known locally as the Garden of the Lis (李家花园) because it was previously owned by the fifth son of Li Hongzhang, the famous statesman of the Qing dynasty.

Access to adjoining courts was through moon gates—larger circular openings in the dividing walls.”[29] American faculty members complained of the freezing days of winter, the moldy floors, and walls with cracks.

Thurston asserted that “it was the cooperative, non-competitive promotion of projects that finally made it appeal to the women of America.”[31] The academic quadrangle opened on the east, looking directly toward Purple Mountain.

New alterations had been made: a new brick wall, a gatehouse complete with a prison cell, numerous wooden buildings, and military equipment were left behind by the Japanese soldiers.