Ronnie Higgs, the Vice President of Student Affairs at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) was in court today and has been charged with “corporal injury to spouse cohabitant,” according to court records.
The Lutrinae reached out to the Carmel Police Department multiple times to find out more information about Higgs’s arrest, but have not received a response.
President Ochoa’s office sent students an email on Nov. 6 to transparently share information about the case.
“The university has learned that domestic violence charges have been filed against Dr. Ronnie Higgs, CSUMB Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services, involving his spouse at a site off campus in Carmel,” read the email. “We are concerned about the scope of the charges facing Dr. Higgs, and we want to ensure our community that we take these matters seriously, while also respecting the personal privacy rights of all involved, as the legal process moves forward.”
The email also addressed Higgs’s administrative leave. It read that he was “placed on administrative leave pending a review of the facts and circumstances involved in this private marital matter.” According to the email, Provost Katherine Kantardjieff will oversee Higgs’s duties as he takes leave.
According to the Carmel Valley Pine Cone Higgs was arrested Oct. 23 for “abuse and kidnapping his wife.”
Sgt. Jeff Watkins spoke on the situation to the Carmel Valley Pine Cone and said that Higgs had found his wife drinking with friends in Carmel and “forced her against her will into his automobile and drove her home.”