Nine months from the day ownership was transferred to Andrews University, Griggs University & International Academy arrived at its new home. During the months of June and July, every piece of Griggs University & International Academy—from student records and textbooks, to office décor and historical archives dating back to 1909—were packed up in Maryland, loaded onto moving trucks and delivered to the new Griggs Hall on the campus of Andrews University.

On July 15, a welcome reception was held for employees of Griggs University & International Academy, who joined the Andrews University community as part of a newly established School of Distance Education. Their new headquarters will operate out of the Lake Union Conference building, which Andrews recently purchased but will continue to share with the Union until they build a new facility for their operations. The wing where Griggs is located will be named Griggs Hall, in honor of Frederick Griggs, a leading Adventist educator at Andrews and elsewhere, and the namesake for Griggs University & International Academy. In addition to housing Griggs, the new Griggs Hall is also the new home for the Office of Development, the Office of Planned Giving & Trust Services and the Office of Affiliation & Extension Programs. These offices relocated to Griggs to help ease congestion in the Administration Building.

Building tours of the new Griggs Hall revealed a reconfigured building that includes office suites, a reception area, two distance education classrooms, a testing area, a mailroom and the Griggs bookstore and warehouse.

Many of the new employees of Griggs and the School of Distance Education were present at the welcome reception, while others are still in the process of relocating to the area.

Near the end of the welcome reception for Griggs, President Niels-Erik Andreasen gathered attendees and he, along with Provost Andrea Luxton, gave special thanks and recognition to a few key individuals. Among those recognized was Alayne Thorpe, the dean of the School of Distance Education and interim president of Griggs University/International Academy. Thorpe introduced her team and gave special thanks to Pat Mutch, a former academic vice-president who came out of retirement to oversee the transition of Griggs from Maryland to Michigan.

Andreasen also expressed appreciation to the previous occupants of the building, the Lake Union Conference staff. “I hope that in the midst of the discomfort of moving twice—you will also have some satisfaction of seeing this house full of people once again. It was built by the Church to serve the Church, and then it became too big for the services provided. But now, it’s going to be full of service once again,” said Andreasen. He then gave a prayer of thanks to God for His blessings and dedicated “the people and this place to His service.”

Andrews University, including Griggs and the new School of Distance Education, now has more than 10,000 students around the world.

-Written by Keri Suarez, media relations specialist, Office of Integrated Marketing & Communication