Ardis Higgins to Receive Westmont Medal at Commencement

A total of 326 students expect to graduate from Westmont. Dr. Robert Wennberg, a Westmont philosophy professor, will give the commencement address in honor of his retirement after 35 years at the college.

The Westmont Medal is given each year to recognize individuals in our community whose lives embody the very principles associated with the Christian character of the college: integrity, service, compassion, responsibility, faithfulness, discipline and generosity.

Higgins has been deeply involved in the community while committing her life to music and to education. An accomplished organist, she chaired the music department at Santa Barbara City College and taught music education at Westmont until deteriorating eyesight forced her to retire early. Determined to pursue her passion, she became an international music education consultant, traveling throughout the world with the International Society for Music Education and the Comparative Education Society. The author of more than 60 magazine, newspaper and journal articles and music reviews, she also published “Windows on Women” in 1975 to highlight the accomplishments of women. Ardis wrote the manuals and study questions for “Music in Motion,” an innovative educational series that illustrated classical music with creative film footage.

A longtime member of the Santa Barbara Symphony board and a past president of nine community organizations, Higgins received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Santa Barbara News-Press in 1998. Her tireless service to the symphony and the community has enriched the arts in Santa Barbara. A graduate of Northwestern University (where she also earned a master’s degree in music), Higgins did additional graduate work at the University of Southern California.

Past recipients of the Westmont Medal are Lord Paul and Lady Leslie Ridley Tree, Larry Crandell, Penny Jenkins, Dr. Ramon Vidauri of Ensenada, Mexico, Anita Mackey, Stewart and Katherine Abercrombie, Betty Rosness, Peter MacDougall and David Spainhour.

Wennberg’s areas of expertise include philosophical ethics, abortion, euthanasia and animal rights. His books include: “God, Humans and Animals: An Invitation to Enlarge Our Moral Universe,” Eerdmans, 2003; “Terminal Choices: Euthanasia, Suicide and the Right to Die,” Eerdmans, 1989; and “Life in the Balance: Exploring the Abortion Controversy,” Eerdmans, 1985. Students have named him teacher of the year at Westmont four times and he received the faculty research award in 1986. He earned his doctorate in philosophy from UC Santa Barbara in 1973.

Commencement is open to the public, but seating is limited.

You may obtain information and leave a voicemail message on the commencement information line (805) 565-7177. For directions to campus, visit the college Web site at www.westmont.edu.