Eric James and the ‘Utopianist’ Campus: Biography, Policy and the Building of a New University during the 1960s1

Abstract

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’s 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. 1 This paper is based on research into records held at the Borthwick Institute, University of York, and National Archives (NA), formerly Public Record Office (PRO), Kew. Lady Cordelia James and the University of York granted permission to consult the James Papers and Vice‐Chancellor’s Papers held at the Borthwick. Thanks are due to them and to the British Academy for funding the initial research on which the paper is based (“Lord James of Rusholme: An Educational Life”, Award No. SG‐32493). The author would also like to thank Lady James, Dr Janet Coles, Professor Ian Lister, Professor Harold Silver and anonymous referees for comments on previous drafts of the paper. Any remaining deficiencies are due entirely to the author.