What is the University of Sussex? Or any other university? Is it the students? The teachers? The professors? The researchers? The administrators? The clerical staff? The barely seen, but always present and indispensable, cleaners, caterers,porters and ground staff? Who "are" the University? Who judges the quality of the University? Is it The Guardian League Tables, the Government, the taxpayer, the University Senate or Council? Is it the students or their families,or their employers, or the schools that recommend it? Who is to decide? Is it the examination results or the outcomes of postgraduate research? Is it the numbers of applicants or successful graduates? What makes a university reputation? This book does not attempt to answer these questions but everyone at Sussex is part of the questions and part of the answers. There will always be a quest to create a balanced combination of academic excellence, financial probity, moral and spiritual values, all of which have respect for human dignity. They are at the core of this University, past present and future. The reader can decide how far what is written is germane to the overall subject of life at Sussex in particular, as well as in higher education generally.