This article examines the ways that students and professors imagine the space of higher education and thus shape their relationship to the larger academic community. Data come from a "Lengua Inglesa" program in northern Mexico. The findings reveal that personal and community histories, family networks, media, and migration converge to shape what was imagined and imaginable by faculty and students, as well as how they interpreted their relationship to the program. The findings suggest a need for revising current conceptualizations of academic culture to include the context of institutions and academic communities in developing countries. (Contains 3 tables and 2 footnotes.)