Mars Hill University Confers Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees and Awards Honorary Doctorate

May 9, 2026

Nearly 200 graduates walked across the stage of Moore Auditorium on Saturday, May 9, 2026, to receive their Mars Hill University bachelor’s or master’s degrees. The university also awarded an honorary doctorate to retired businessman and longtime university trustee, Wayne Higgins of Weaverville, North Carolina. Saturday’s commencement ceremony was the last graduation presided over by President Tony Floyd, who is retiring this month.

Student speakers were Laela Jimenez, a nursing major from Naples, Florida, who represented the traditional student population; and Jakub Pawelczak, a social work major from Knightdale, North Carolina, who represented the Adult & Graduates Studies graduates. Other students with special roles in the program were Jordan Speece, a music performance major from Lewisville, North Carolina, who sang “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from “The Sound of Music,” and Matthew Pacheco, a community and nonprofit leadership major from Windermere, Florida, who delivered the invocation. Paul Powell, a 1979 Mars Hill alumnus and current chair of the board of trustees, spoke to the graduates on behalf of the trustees.

Mars Hill awarded master’s degrees in three programs: the Master of Arts in Teaching, Master of Education, and Master of Management. Undergraduate degrees presented were the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Social Work.

President Emeritus Dan Lunsford, who was President Floyd’s predecessor, helped bestow the Doctor of Humane Letters on Wayne Higgins. 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.