James College, York

James College is a college at the University of York in the United Kingdom. It is known as the "Sports College" largely due to its prowess on the Sports field but also has a diversity of events that cater to all tastes. The college crest incorporates a swan with a White Rose of York. History James College is named after Lord James of Rusholme, the University of York's first vice-chancellor, and was built in several stages during the 1990s. Initially James was intended to be a postgraduate-only college, however the university began to rapidly expand in size, almost doubling in size from 4,300 to 8,500 students, in 1993, therefore it was decided that the college should become open to undergraduates. Buildings and services As of 2023, it consists of twelve accommodation blocks lettered from "A" to "M” (missing out "I") located across a cable-stayed bridge from Wentworth College and close to the old Goodricke College buildings and the university's sports centre. There are three types of accommodation; standard houses, ensuite houses and ensuite flats. Blocks A, B, and C are arranged into houses with a small kitchen on the ground floor. There are 3 houses per block, with 15 people living in each house. Blocks D, E, and F are the older-style ensuite blocks which are also arranged into houses with a kitchen on the ground floor, and have 16 people per house. Blocks G, H, J, K, L, and M are the newest blocks and all have ensuite rooms, consisting of a 'pod' or wet room containing a shower, toilet and sink. Each block is (generally) divided into 6 flats which have a kitchen per flat. The kitchens are shared between 6 and 9 people. In 2009, James College acquired a block from the former site of Goodricke College which became N block. In 2022, the university decided to withdraw N block from available accommodation. All blocks are catered for breakfast and dinner between Monday-Friday. James has a number of common rooms including the Lakeside (JCR) and the Lodge, hosts the YorkSU bar 'The Lounge' and is the closest college to the University Sports centre & playing fields. Student life The JCRC is the student-run body that manages Freshers Week, weekly events, and formals. The quads have lent themselves to the most famous James College tradition, "Quad Dash". Quad Dash models itself on the film Chariots of Fire. It was the brainchild of the then James College Chair, Fergus Drake. College residents turn out in their hundreds to enjoy a day of sunshine, free beer, quad races, ice cream, bouncy castles and fun. Quad dash took a brief break between 2015-2025 and was revived as "Quad Bash". The James College Annual Lecture is delivered by a distinguished speaker on a topic of interest to the college. In recent years these have included: 2010 – Duncan Petrie – 'The Swinging Sixties' 2011 – Steve Bell, award-winning Guardian Cartoonist 2012 – Fergus Drake, Save the Children,- 'The reality of humanitarian aid in a fragile world' Within the college, a number of 'Taste' events take place each term, where students and members of the college are invited to introduce others to a taster of their own culture through a presentation, demonstration or media. This is normally accompanied, by traditional cuisine and drinks. Alongside these cultural exchange events, the college runs a unique exchange with Morningside College at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, with students from each institution spending a number of terms or a year at the other. James College and Durham University's Collingwood College enjoy an annual sporting contest and social weekend, with York and Durham taking turns to host the event. James College currently holds the JC Cup, winning a closely fought encounter in Autumn 2012. James College has two Common Rooms. The Lakeside Common Room is in the A/B/C quad, while James Lodge is in College House, near to the Roger Kirk Centre. The first floor is occupied by Campus West communities staff, the JCRC office is located through the kitchen on the ground floor. Sports James is known as the "Sports College" on campus, largely due to its supreme prowess in the Sports field. For the 2026 edition of the Durham College Varsity, James sent six teams to the competition, more than any other College at the university. 11 – 13 November saw the 'Battle of the Birds' held between James College and Derwent College. Junior Common Room Committee The JCRC is the student-run body that manages Freshers Week, weekly events, and formals. In 2018, Freshers' Week saw a large focus on Non-Clubbing events as well as the traditional clubbing portfolio. The 2026 JCRC Executive Committee is: Chair – Jack Watts Secretary – Nancy Williams Treasurer – Rahul Samra Head of Communications - Zach Hyams Heads of Sport – Octavia Udy & Chloe Le Ballios Head of Events – Sophie Almond Head of Community – Elizabeth Stew List of chairs of the James College JCRC: 1993 Fergus Drake OBE 1994 Fergus Drake OBE 1995 Tim Ayling 1996 Robin Etherington 1997 Stewart Buchanan 1998 Julie Cartwright 1999 Rebekah Lane 2000 Jamie Smith 2001 Alison Rennie 2002 Andy Henton 2003 Naomi Brown 2004 Alice Gamm 2005 Anouska Widdess 2006 Anne-Marie Canning 2007 Alex Clark 2008 Amber Brittain 2009 Amber Brittain 2010 Tim Green 2011 Emma Bartlett 2012 Laura Watson 2013 Dexter Clark 2013 Dan Ashcroft 2014 Gareth Dybiec 2015 Gareth Dybiec 2016 Max Flynn 2017 James Durcan 2018 Alexander Smart 2019 Jack Edwards 2020 Sophie Schulze 2021 Max Stafford 2022 David Ward 2023 James Brunt and Ellie Cheshire 2024 Lily Quick and Catriona Forbes 2025 Jack Watts 2026 Jack Watts Wildlife As with the rest of the University's West Campus James College is home to several hundred ducks, geese, other assorted wildfowl, and rabbits. College staff Ken Todd was the head of James College from its opening until his retirement in September 2007. Initially the position was titled Provost, but from 2013 this was changed to principal, this has subsequently been changed to head of college. The head of college is a part-time post held by an academic at the university. List of provosts: Mr Ken Todd (1990–2007) Dr Neil Lunt (2007–2013) List of heads/Principals of James College: The Revd David Efird (2013–2017) Paul Summers (2017–2019) Andrew Kerrigan (2019–2020) List of deans of James College: Mary Macfarlane (2002–2004) Christine Hamieh (2004–2006) Bernadette Martinez-Hernandez (2006–2008) Margaret Hearnden (2008–2011) Dan Horsfall (2011–2013) Assistant heads/College Managers of college are full-time staff that form that primary support worker in the college. List of assistant heads/College Manager of James College: Michael Britland (2013–2021) Lenore Klassen (2022–2024) Georgina Heath (2024–2025) The college administrator deals with admin issues around the college. List of college administrators: Sarah Doughty (2000–2020) Lenore Klassen (2020–2022) Bryony Cox (2022–2023) Millie Baines (2024) The wellbeing review by the University concluded that College staffing structures could be optimised. This saw the disbandment of the traditional college staffing structure and opted for shared staff teams across multiple colleges, one for campus west and another for campus east. The staff team for Campus West Communities team are: Campus West Communities Manager - Georgina Heath Campus West Communities Officer - William Hamilton (2025 - Present), Esther Suffield (2025 - Present) & Larry Healy (2025 - Present) Campus West Community Coordinators - TBC References External links JCRC website University website page on James College