These pioneering students, who had ventured forth from China in their teens, put their talents to the service of China's modernization and the strengthening of its defenses against imperialist forces, and also left a deep impression on many of their American classmates at MIT. Sadly, owing to the recall -- which the MIT faculty vigorously protested in a memorial to the Chinese government -- none had been able to complete their MIT degrees. Led by the President, the memorial conveyed the faculty's enthusiastic testimonial as to the character and behavior of the Chinese students. Despite their short time at the Institute, many of the CEM students kept up their MIT connections after returning to China, writing letters to their teachers and friends, meeting with MIT alumni and faculty who traveled to China, and participating in the formation of the Technology Club of China in 1915. Their continuing connection MIT is also demonstrated by the fact that their classmates honored them by inclusion in the reunion books.

The recall of the CEM furthermore began a decade-long gap in Chinese enrollments at MIT, which did not begin to pick up again until 1901.[1]