The Biola Dead Poets Society, is a student-led club that began in the spring of 2025. The heart came from Audrey Sanders, a junior transfer theology major with a concentration in Bible Exposition. Sanders, having been a writer her whole life, attempted to begin a club at her high school, imitating the one in the “Dead Poets Society” after watching the film.
“I just fell in love with the movie,” she said. The Dead Poets Society film, based off of the book by Nancy H. Kleinbaum, is the fictional story of a teacher who comes to a prestigious male boarding school which he used to attend personally in his younger years. He brings with him his love for poetry, igniting within the young men a passion for the arts as they discover new ways to express themselves through the arts.
When she was met with a lack of enthusiasm in this area, Sanders was eager to bring her niche idea to Biola students. Although mainly built amongst her close circle of friends, Sanders’ club meetings slowly grew throughout the semester. These conversations created a safe environment for writers, new and seasoned alike, to come together and share poetry. Even those who didn’t write poetry but shared a love for rhyme and rhythm were welcomed to come with a favorite poem to share, or even just to sit and listen to what others had to bring.
In the summer of 2025, Sanders was determined to keep this club alive. She posted consistently on the Dead Poets of Biola Instagram account, which was built to spread awareness of the club. This brought the word around to new students who arrived in the fall of 2025, as well as keeping current members up to date on upcoming events and meetings. Attendance became less consistent near the end of spring 2025, so in this upcoming semester, Sanders set up the meetings to be more laid back, only meeting once every two weeks so as to create a lower-stress environment for attendees.
“We go for about an hour. maybe less…you don’t even need to prepare a poem,” Sanders said. “I always bring books of poetry for people to go through if they want.”
Though members dwindle in and out of attendance, Sanders sits biweekly at Fluor Fountain faithfully, ready to read and share with whoever comes. Sanders’ desire on creating this club was for her own love of poetry, of creating a space where she could share what’s on her heart, as well as opening up the same opportunity for others.
