The building of the English new universities during the 1960s symbolized the liberating possibilities of higher education. New institutions for a new age, their campuses were arguably part of a wider "utopianist" movement for community that sought to challenge academic elitism and conservatism. This paper considers the era of university expansion as conceived and implemented during the early development of the University of York. Taking a biographical perspective, it examines the influence of the University's first vice-chancellor, Lord (Eric) James of Rusholme, on the complex process of institution building. Although one of the most prominent educationists of the period, James' vision for York was as much backward as forward looking, harking back to an older collegiate model of community for living as well as learning. What emerged in the meadows to the east of the old Cathedral city was far from utopian but a clear and highly pragmatic expression of how James believed the university, as a liberal and liberating institution, might be refashioned to meet the challenges of a new age of science and technology, mass democracy and education for leadership.