Spotlight: Ed Fitzpatrick, the man behind the scenes

By Brielle Aguayo •

NSU’s campus is home to many different organizations, clubs and departments. The Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts is home to programs like theatre, dance, music and art. But it is also a second home for Ed Fitzpatrick, performing and visual arts facility manager.

Fitzpatrick started working at NSU in February 2007. Before he came to NSU, Fitzpatrick attended college at Culver Stockton in Canton, Missouri. He originally majored in accounting, but later switched to theater due to a newfound interest in it. Instead of playing it safe, he decided to choose a major that matched his interests.

“I did a little bit [of theater] in high school, just a couple of shows, and I also ran the light board for the community theater because I got listed as a lighting tech on the first high school show I did,” Fitzpatrick said.

When Fitzpatrick first began working on the technical side of shows, he said he did not know what he was doing but decided to stick with it. To this day, he calls himself a technician and the “behind-the-scenes guy.”

Fitzpatrick’s first job title at NSU was theatre technical director.

“I had that position for about a year-and-a-half, and then they opened the facilities manager position because we were still dealing with growing pains and just getting the building ready for the start of the expanded Performing and Visual Arts. When I started, we were just a theatre program,” Fitzpatrick said.

The other programs — visual arts, dance and music — were added in fall 2008. With the new addition to the performing and visual arts programs came more responsibilities, which Fitzpatrick now handles on a daily basis.

Ysabella Lupercio, senior dance and business management major, is grateful for Fitzpatrick’s extensive knowledge.

“I think that is what’s so great about Ed. I think he balances so much and he does it in a very calm and poised manner. I could literally be freaking out about a room that didn’t get reserved, now I have nowhere to go. But he has so much knowledge and [will say] we can just move you over here or we can just do this instead,” Lupercio said.

Fitzpatrick handles room reservations and puts out “little fires” wherever they spring up. He’s helped many students, including Emily Bernard, senior chemistry major.

“He’s helped me with everything. When I need to get myself organized for meetings that I would host, when I did the Mayfly [production] he was there to help me book all the rooms. He talked me through things. When I was working in the [Barry Robbins] Scene Shop he also taught us a couple things when we would build stuff. He’s a really good mentor,” Bernard said.

Fitzpatrick’s favorite thing about being in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts is interacting with students, faculty and staff, he said.

Mike Lynn, assistant director of Mako Media Network, appreciates Fitzpatrick.

“You can count on him for everything. For example, installing the Mako TV image onto the anchor desk or moving all of the equipment from Mako TV studio up to the third floor. Ed puts the work in and he gets it done right every single time. Quality and efficiency is his go-to for everything he does,” Lynn said.

When Fitzpatrick isn’t helping out in the PVA wing of the Don Taft University Center, he enjoys spending time with his family, which includes his wife Carolyn Fitzpatrick. She also works at NSU in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship as an instructional designer and a UNIV professor.

Ed and Carolyn Fitzpatrick first met at college when he was a senior and she was a sophomore.

“[We met] at a party in a warehouse that was hosted by a fraternity that he didn’t belong to, and I didn’t know a lot of people there. I was instantly interested in him and I knew some people who were in theater, and so I started hanging out with them more, so that we could hang out more,” Carolyn Fitzpatrick said.

After their initial meeting, Carolyn Fitzpatrick realized she had a class with Ed Fitzpatrick. She did not realize it at first because he was always sleeping in class due to him staying up late doing theater work.

Carolyn and Ed Fitzpatrick got married 10 years later, but before they got married they were in a long-distance relationship for two years.

“So, for two years we visited maybe once a year, and other than that we just wrote letters like pioneer people back and forth, and that’s what we did for two years. Then, after I graduated I moved down to Florida,” Carolyn Fitzpatrick said.

Carolyn Fitzpatrick still has her love letters because she said it’s something that she can go back and reread as many times as she wants, as opposed to a FaceTime call where it’s gone and you never have that again.

Ed Fitzpatrick enjoys spending time with Carolyn Fitzpatrick and his daughter Catherine Fitzpatrick, 12. When he gets home from work, they eat dinner together and watch television.

“Outside of work, I like to go for bike rides with my daughter. We went to Tennessee near Dollywood this past year with extended family. Also, [some things I do are] looking at Tumblr and playing stupid video games on my phone,” Ed Fitzpatrick said.

Ed Fitzpatrick has worked for the department for more than 15 years and said the person who inspires him the most is Mark Duncan, founder of NSU’s Theatre Program.

“Mark’s dedication to the arts programs was amazing. I believe it was just a few weeks before his death that he met with Dean Baumgartner, continuing to advocate for the arts programs. I am privileged to play a part in continuing his legacy here at NSU and I also aspire to his unrivaled level of sarcasm,” Ed Fitzpatrick said.