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ABSTRAK
This article examines the controversial leadership of Alexander McLearn as President of Battle Creek College (1881–1882) and its relevance for renewing Adventist education in Indonesia’s Merdeka Belajar era. McLearn, a former Baptist minister turned Seventh-day Adventist, clashed with Goodloe Harper Bell over student discipline and gender relations, reflecting tensions between tradition and educational reform in early Adventist schooling. Using a biographical narrative method and archival sources, this study analyzes McLearn’s student-centered disciplinary approach, which anticipated Ellen G. White’s holistic educational philosophy but conflicted with institutional norms. The findings emphasize the importance of flexible leadership and character-based discipline. In response to declining enrollment in Indonesian Adventist schools, this article reinterprets McLearn as a misunderstood innovator and suggests integrating digital learning with Adventist values to address contemporary educational challenges.