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 …
