Behind the bushy, graying beard that frames the gentle smile every customer receives, Michael Fitzgerald’s passion burns bright.

Fitzgerald, known as Dr. Java to the regulars at his coffee house, Java 101, 901 Lucinda Ave., has a storied past that influences his current life.

Dr. Java does in fact have a Ph.D. in early childhood education and spent much of his life as an educator in special education classrooms in some of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago. In areas where many people would be afraid to stop at stop signs, Fitzgerald would be knocking on doors after school to find out why students had not been to class, even though the school told him his safety was not guaranteed.

“I would go and find Grandma and find out what was happening,” Fitzgerald said. “In afternoons after school, I didn’t feel threatened. Plus the students liked me so they protected Dr. Mike.”

Fitzgerald said he grew tired of the bureaucracies that plague special education programs and felt it was time for a change.

“You get burned out from education and doing good things, and you wind up needing to do something different,” Fitzgerald said. “I needed to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up.”

Fitzgerald, a recovering alcoholic and addict who has been sober for 17 years, found inspiration in his recovery. Using his love of music and desire for something new as motivation, he opened Java 101 in DeKalb.

“Every place for live music in DeKalb serves alcohol,” Fitzgerald said. “I just wanted to give people a choice.”

Fitzgerald is also taking classes to learn how to be a drug counselor to help those in similar situations in which he found himself.

“I’m not with the school, I’m not the parents and I’m not the police,” he said. “A lot of people helped me when I was down, and I want to return the favor.”

Dr. Java said he believes that alcohol use, especially underage alcohol use, has become accepted. He said he also believes the university should not resign itself to being a suitcase school and should work to have activities that would make students want to stay on campus, promoting a feeling of community.

Java 101 provides a variety of live music acts on weekends that cost $4 and come with a free drink.

“I originally wanted to do this for the music, and I think the live shows are an important part of Java,” Fitzgerald said.