Prior to the appointment, Fu had been serving as acting president of Peking University. But Fu refused the job when education minister Chu Chia-hua told him about it. Chu then organized a band of friends to take turns persuading Fu to take the post, which he finally did reluctantly. Even then, however, he remained ambivalent and didn't actually take up his duties for a time.
但是當教育部長朱家驊轉達這項訊息時，立即遭到傅斯年拒絕，朱家驊又找了幾位朋友輪流遊說，傅斯年終於勉強接受了任命，但並沒有立刻赴任，仍處於徘徊狀態。