The Antillean Adventist University (AAU) (in Spanish: Universidad Adventista de las Antillas) (UAA) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It is a part of the Seventh-day Adventist education system, the world's second largest Christian school system. The university developed from the merging of two educational institutions: Puerto Rico Academy established in 1946; renamed in 1957 as the Colegio Adventista Puertorriqueño, and Antillian College which moved to Puerto Rico as a result of the Cuban Revolution. In 1989, the school's higher education program was accredited by the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico on August 18, 1989. The university is sponsored by and affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and is situated within 284 acres (1.1 km²) of mountainous land with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. AAU offers undergraduate studies in arts and sciences, and graduate studies in arts. History Antillean Adventist University has its roots in Cuba of the early 1900s. After a disrupted educational attempt in 1911, the school became established in 1923. In 1939, the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists decided to move the campus to Santa Clara from Bartle, Oriente Province and to upgrade the institution to that of a junior college. It was the only educational institution in the Antillian Union which offered courses in Spanish above the primary grades. At the time, the Antillian Union of Seventh-day Adventists included the Bahamas, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Jamaica. The Battle of Santa Clara The Cuban Revolution's decisive Battle of Santa Clara in December 1958, took place within a few miles of Antillian College. Walter J. Brown, then president of the college, provided an eyewitness account for the Adventist flagship journal, the Review and Herald. The battle took place in the last days of December, 1958. Bombing had destroyed transportation routes causing two hundred of the college's students to remain on campus during the Christmas season. Across the road from the college was Central University. On Saturday, December 27, the college cancelled all their many activities off campus. Special prayers were offered for protection and the return of peace to the nation. Around midnight, Saturday night, two barbudos from Ernesto (Che) Guevara column were posted to guard the college's building. Others had taken over the university across the highway from them. The college folk went to see these famous "men from the hills." The two bearded and armed barbudos were very