Giving Tuesday, an Andrews University initiative organized by the Office of Development on Nov. 4, is a fundraising drive for various projects that need financial support across different university departments. As described by the Director of Development, Steven Manoukian, Giving Tuesday serves as an annual opportunity for Andrews students, alumni and other community members to foster a strong “culture of giving” and allows for some of the university’s greatest needs to be met.
“Paul talks about serving wholeheartedly, and then Paul goes on to quote Jesus from Matthew 10:8 about serving others,” said Manoukian. “In this case, serving others is not necessarily giving of time and talent, but resources.”
Many academic and ministry-focused departments on campus are a part of this fundraising initiative, including the Howard Performing Arts Center, Department of Physics, Department of Religion and Biblical Languages, School of Architecture and Interior Design and more.
One of the projects being fundraised for is the digitalization of the Student Movement archives. The Center for Adventist Research (CAR), based in the James White Library, is launching a mass digitization project to bring Andrews University’s official student paper of record online, starting with the first issue published in 1915. “Digitizing the SM will safeguard our unique institutional voice, offering a window into how Andrews University remembers, defines, and narrates itself across generations,” said Katherine Van Arsdale, associate director of CAR.
Instrumental to this project are CAR’s student employees who keep its digitization center humming. Their team is actively working to transform fragile print copies of the SM, which are currently located in the James White Library and the SM office, into keyword-searchable PDFs. Using state-of-the-art scanning equipment, student workers capture each page at high resolution. Part of their work also involves cutting apart bound volumes of past issues, ensuring that every story, headline, and opinion column survives for future generations. The digitized SM archive is bound for the Adventist Digital Library, where it will be accessible for anyone, from alumni reliving their glory days to future students researching how we studied, worked and lived in 2025.
The CAR and SM teams are excited for this project and want the rest of the Andrews community to be excited as well, because the Student Movement is more than a newspaper. It’s our school’s collective memory, stretching from the era of Emmanuel Missionary College to the Andrews we know now. It shows how students have defined this university, cheered for it, challenged it and changed the world from right here at home.
Andrews University’s historian and professor emerita, Meredith Jones Gray, shared how important this archival data is, stating how the SM has helped her research tremendously.
“Throughout my research and writing of the two-volume Andrews Heritage Series on the history of Andrews University [from 1874 to 1990], the Student Movement proved to be one of my most invaluable sources. This student paper …reveals, as no other sources possibly can, the day-to-day life of the campus of Emmanuel Missionary College and Andrews University, as well as its intellectual, social, and spiritual culture and historical trends.”
After utilizing the physical archives of the SM for decades, Jones Gray points out that digitalization of the archives is important for accessibility and to avoid possibly damaging the physical documents. “For the sake of future researchers, the entire run of the Student Movement desperately needs to be digitized,” she said. “This priceless resource will be sought after, I believe, not only by those interested directly in the many facets of Andrews University’s history, but also by researchers and writers seeking information about the role of Andrews University in the broader history of Adventism.”
Van Arsdale hopes that all of the AU community becomes a part of this archival effort. “If you, like Jones Gray, believe in this project, then we could use your help.” From now to Nov. 4, CAR is raising $5,000 as part of AU’s Giving Day campaign. These funds will support one student digitizer for a full academic year. She continued, saying, “If you love Andrews University history, student journalism or just having easy access to stories about campus life and the wild stories of the past, help us reach our goal. Pray for the effort, spread the word, and if you can, please give a little to help save a lot of Andrews history.”
To donate to this cause or other Giving Tuesday projects, click here.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.