[2][3] Once established, the university approached the difficult tasks of educating and converting the people of Sichuan province—an area in size equal to the United Kingdom, France, and Germany combined—as it was the only institution with a Christian purpose in the region.

[4] The university grew rapidly in its first decade and remained a key player in tertiary education in Sichuan throughout the Republican Era.

[6] The creation of the school manifested from William Reginald Morse's realization that missions in West China were unable to provide educational opportunities.

The mission of the school was "the advancement of the Kingdom of God by means of higher education in West China under Christian auspices".

As Morse noted, "The University suffered from poverty, lack of equipment, deficiency in staff, and inadequate teaching rooms".

Although the university was shut down in 1926 and the WCEU was closed shortly thereafter when all foreigners were ordered to leave China, the Chinese scholars who remained there carried on, taught others, and made progress on their own.

[8] During World War II, John Leighton Stuart helped students and faculty members of Yenching University transfer from Beijing (Peking) to Chengdu, where WCUU sheltered those exile intellectuals.