The whole-person principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are grounded in the biblical view of how God created us — an inseparable integration of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Pioneering Adventists realized from the beginning that education was the ideal way to nurture this concept. They created the Battle Creek Sanitarium as a place for people to learn how to stay well.

This was especially important when the late 1800s came around. With the very hasty uprising of factories, trams, trains, skyscrapers and many more industrial creations (along with the extreme increase of immigration into the U.S.), the physical health of the population began to plummet — especially among those who lived in big cities.

Streets became filled with litter and many cases of contagious sicknesses, such as tuberculosis and cholera, emerged. Never was America in greater need of a whole-person health facility like the Battle Creek Sanitarium where people could be taught how to properly take care of themselves and live a long, happy and healthy life.

Founded in 1874, Battle Creek College was the first Adventist college and is known today as Andrews University. Andrews has grown tremendously and now attracts undergraduate to doctoral students from around the globe. U.S. News and World Report ranks Andrews University as one of the most culturally diverse universities in the nation.