2004 Recipient,
Margaret Weller-Stargell
About | The Speech Delivered By Mrs. Weller-Stargell | Photos from the Event
Margaret Weller-Stargell was recognized as an “Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholar” on Thursday, November 4, 2004. The award is given annually by the UNCW Honors Scholars Program and Randall Library to a person from the Cape Fear area who exemplifies the attributes or interests of Albert Schweitzer. Each Scholar delivers a lecture to the freshman honors seminar, and is recognized for his or her contributions to the region at the annual program and reception.
The Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars program is the legacy of the Albert Schweitzer International Prizes. On the UNCW campus, from 1973 to 1993, the Prizes were awarded to recognize individuals who had contributed significantly in the areas on music, medicine, or humanities- areas that exemplify the interests and contributions of Albert Schweitzer. Each Scholar is chosen by students and faculty in the Honors Program based on his or her contributions in one of these areas.
Ms. Weller-Stargell was recognized for her almost 20 years of service to the community through her involvement at Coastal Horizons Center, Inc. Now President and Chief Executive Officer of Coastal Horizons Center, Ms. Weller-Stargell previously served as Director of the Crisis Intervention Services and the Rape Crisis Center from 1985 to 1995. Under her direction, the Coastal Horizons Center has flourished and provides crisis intervention and substance abuse treatment services in a three-county area.
Previous recipients of the Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholar Award are: Gerald Shinn, PhD., professor emeritus of philosophy and religion at UNCW, who established the original Albert Schweitzer International Prizes, and Kenneth White, MD, local physician who is also know n for his years of organizing and spearheading medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic that involved volunteers from the Wilmington area.
The lecture was held in King Hall Auditorium, at 12:30 pm on Thursday, November 4, with a reception to follow in Randall Library.
Margaret Weller-Stargell's Address on Receiving the Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars Award for 2004
I feel extremely honored and humbled to have been named this year’s recipient of the Albert Schweitzer award. I am equally honored to have the opportunity to be in the presence of University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s finest… you, the Honors Scholars. Indeed, you are truly the ones to be honored today, for you have already exemplified excellence in your academics and in your life. I am most honored to share in this day with you.
When I received the call from Dr. Kate Bruce, stating I had been named this year’s recipient, I wondered if in my many years of knowing her I had played a bad joke on her and this was the moment for payback. Well too bad Kate, I am going to relish in the moment and believe this is for real.
Of course, in my quest to know what I should be prepared for today, I asked Kate what she wanted me to talk about. Her response was, let them hear about Coastal Horizons, how you got where you are, and give them words of wisdom you wish you had been given as a freshman.
Talking about Coastal Horizons Center will be easy…it’s a wonderful organization for which I am proud to be a part of.
Now telling you how I got where I am and giving you words of wisdom I wish I had been given when I was a freshman will be a bit more tricky, largely because I’m not sure I can remember that far back! But for those who know me well, and there are family and friends here with me today who certainly do, I’m never shy for giving advice or telling you what I think you should do.
I want to talk to you first about Coastal Horizons Center and how I started with this agency. Upon graduation from college, I went to work for my older sister Katherine (a member of your Board of Trustee’s here at UNCW). I graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology, with several courses in Psychology. Indeed, I was quite the humanitarian and I believed strongly in advocating for people’s rights. At Eastern Delivery Service, a successful trucking company my sister owned, I was convinced that her drivers had no rights and went about my self appointed responsibility and obligation to unionize them and protect their rights. I most likely would have been fired from this job had not my sister worried about experiencing my mother’s wrath…and NO ONE wants to experience it!
Well, I can tell you, it did not take long to realize I really needed to move on into my field. I learned through a friend about a position that was available at the Rape Crisis Center of what was then Cape Fear Substance Abuse Center. I was hired as a Rape Crisis Counselor to work with victims of sexual assault. This work probably taught me more about humility, compassion, and gratitude than any other life experience.
To walk into the emergency room and see a woman who has just been sexually violated, stripped of her pride, trust, and self confidence is chilling. I think perhaps what had the most profound affect on me was in watching these individuals regain their strength, sense of hope, and belief that they could and would go on with their lives… that was powerful!
I went on the following year to become the Director of Crisis Intervention Services of the agency. Under this department was the Rape Crisis Center, a Crisis Hotline, and a state licensed emergency foster care facility for youth. I must tell you that working with youth, specifically teenagers, is an experience in and of itself unlike any other.
With that position came many challenges and yet many, many rewards. To know that we provide a safe place for displaced, abused, and neglected youth makes the sometimes grueling aspects of this work ever so significant.
In 1994, Cape Fear Substance Abuse Center’s name changed to Coastal Horizons Center, to better reflect this multifaceted organization. In 1995, I was named the Executive Director of the Center to oversee a budget of $1 million with a staff of approximately 35. That same year, as I was glowing in this new position of leadership, I ran into a woman whose intention was only to commend me for the fine work that clearly she had seen me doing. She walked up to me and said (and I shall never forget her words), “honey I am just so proud of you and amazed at what you do everyday. I don’t know how you do it! You run the Rape Crisis Center, the shelter for adolescents, oversee all of those substance abuse services, and then my God do the news at night! You are a remarkable woman! “
Today, I serve at the pleasure of a Board of Trustees as the President and CEO, overseeing a budget of nearly $6 million, with a staff of 93 employees…and growing in several counties throughout eastern North Carolina. A nationally accredited agency that has been in existence for thirty five years, you might ask, to what can one attribute the success of this organization? You have perhaps read or heard from Dr. Bruce that it is because of my leadership. While I hope I have played a role in the success of this agency, I want to tell you what truly makes it work and what I hope will be ideas you may consider as you develop your career path.
1. Surround yourself with people who will help you achieve your goals. In my nearly twenty years at Coastal Horizons Center, and certainly in the nearly ten years I have served as it’s CEO, I have been fortunate enough to work with those who shared in the interest and desire to fulfill our agency’s mission everyday. Some of them are here today. Coastal Horizons Center’s mission is to promote choices for healthier lives and safer communities by providing assistance to those in need of crisis intervention, prevention, substance abuse, and criminal justice alternative services.
2. Be passionate about what you do everyday! Someone once told me that you should never just have a job, and that you should enjoy what you do for a living. It is when you lose the desire and passion, that it is time to move on to something else. How many times have you heard someone say, I hate my job! Encourage that person to find something they love. While it has had its share of challenges (and still does), I can honestly say that I have always loved being a part of Coastal Horizons Center. I have never had the desire to be anywhere else and have quite frankly questioned the sanity of those who have. While I have been there for nearly twenty years, there are others who have been there for much longer…twenty five years and more. Dedication and commitment is key.
3. Believe that you can accomplish that which others might not. Challenge yourself and dare to believe that all things are possible. When I was offered and ultimately accepted this position in 1995, I was told that not all of those around me believed in my ability to do the job…I just wasn’t aggressive enough for the position. Oh well…
4. Maintain a sense of humor. Life without laughter is not living. Magnify my words…life without laughter, is NOT living.
5. Remind yourself everyday of what is truly important in this life. I am reminded of a speech given by Former First Lady, Barbara Bush. In her remarks she talked about the values in life and what is most important. She said that we must cherish our human connections…our relationships with family and friends. I can tell you that I am blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends, as evidenced by their presence today. It is important to maintain those relationships and never take them for granted. As I conclude, I want to leave you with a quote from Barbara Bush’s speech as it is the one message I hope you will keep with you always. She said, and I quote, “ at the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent.”
I wish you the very best during your time here at UNCW. These times should be some of the best years of your life…make the best of it, make the most of it. Thank you.
