This is the history of the first forty years of the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu, from the time of its conception by Legislative action in 1966 to the failure of the Legislature to provide funding to begin Phase I of the Kapolei campus in 2006. A short postscript covers the highlights of the subsequent period up to the groundbreaking and ground blessing that took place in January 2009. There are several major reasons for recounting this history: to convey through interviews the personal dimension of the institution as a living entity; to record what happened and when and the impact of those events; and to provide researchers whose interests lie in the development of higher education institutions with a well-documented story. Thus this history of the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu is episodic, idiosyncratic, and highly personalized, while also conveying the spirit, elan, and dynamism of a still emerging institution of higher learning.