Mars Hill University’s spring commencement ceremony will honor nearly 200 bachelor’s and master’s level graduates, along with retired businessman and longtime university trustee, Wayne Higgins of Weaverville, North Carolina, who will receive an honorary doctorate. Commencement will take place in Moore Auditorium on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 9:30 a.m., and will be livestreamed on Mars Hill’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@MarsHillU/streams.
Student speakers will be Laela Jimenez of Naples, Florida, and Jakub Pawelczak of Knightdale, North Carolina. Jimenez is a nursing major and will represent the traditional student population; Pawelczak is a social work major and will represent the Adult & Graduates Studies graduates. Special music will be presented by Jordan Speece, a music performance major from Lewisville, North Carolina. The invocation will be delivered by Matthew Pacheco, a community and nonprofit leadership major from Windermere, Florida. Paul Powell, a 1971 Mars Hill alumnus and current chair of the board of trustees, will bring remarks on behalf of the trustees.
Wayne Higgins will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the graduation ceremony. Higgins is a 1975 Mars Hill graduate who spent his career with Carolina Farm Credit, retiring as senior vice president and a member of the company’s senior management team. He has provided decades of service and leadership to the university, serving first on the board of advisors and then on the board of trustees, on which his tenure began in 1998. He served two terms as chair of the board and was named a trustee emeritus in 2019.
He served on the presidential search committees which selected Presidents Dan Lunsford and Tony Floyd. He was part of the Building Our University campaign steering committee and currently serves as chair of the Together We Rise campaign steering committee, which recently achieved its $24 million goal to build the university’s new campus center.
Higgins was inducted into the Mars Hill University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022 and was named both the Lion Legacy Award recipient and Alumnus of the Year in 2025. He and his wife, Patty, have made a lasting difference in the lives of students by awarding scholarships for more than 20 years to North Buncombe High School seniors who attend Mars Hill University.
In addition to his work at Mars Hill University, Higgins has been a member and local and district officer of the North Buncombe Optimist Club since 1978. He served on the board of the Western North Carolina Rescue Ministries for 16 years. He is involved with Baptist ministries locally and beyond. He has been involved in prison ministry for many years at Craggy Prison. He supports the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina and the Optimist International Foundation, and for more than 35 years he has been involved in a special ministry to carnival workers with the Mountain State Fair.
In conjunction with commencement, graduates of the Judge-McRae School of Nursing will have their pinning ceremony on Thursday, May 7, at 1:30 p.m. in Moore Auditorium. Graduating nurses receive a pin which signifies their transition from the student role to the medical practice role. The tradition is said to have originated in the 1860s with Florence Nightingale.
The university also will honor Heritage Students—graduates whose parents or other immediate family members are Mars Hill alumni—by presenting them a special cord to wear with their cap and gown regalia. That ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 8, in the Sunken Garden.
About Mars Hill University:
Mars Hill University is a premier private, liberal arts institution offering over 30 baccalaureate degrees, as well as master’s degrees in criminal justice, elementary education, teaching, and management. Founded in 1856 by Baptist families of the region, the campus is located just 20 minutes north of Asheville in the mountains of western North Carolina.