The “Dead Poets Society” came to life at DePauw University as students joined together for the first Enlightened Voices Poetry Club meeting on Mar. 1 in the lobby of Reese Hall.
Despite the sunless and windy weather, the meeting’s atmosphere was one of warmth and welcome as students mingled with pizza on their plates and smiles on their faces. The room was later replaced with fits of laughter as introductions began via freestyle rap.
Primarily a sophomore-led club, Enlightened Voices was the result of students taking matters into their own hands. After feeling that DePauw did not have enough poetry clubs, sophomores Tarique Williams and Byron Mason took it upon themselves to begin their own. Now the club’s president and vice president, respectively, Williams and Mason have a team of classmates rallying behind them on the club’s board.
Though the club is technically specified as a poetry club, Williams was sure to express the club’s desire of variability.
“Enlightened Voices is more than just a poetry club. It’s a place for anybody with any artistic medium, whether that be photography, short stories, or art,” Williams said. “This is a place where everybody should feel welcome. Don’t feel like you guys are confined to just writing poetry while you’re here. We would love for you guys to bring in your work, no matter what form it takes, and show it off to us.”
Not only is the club looking to be versatile in terms of artistic expression and interests, but also in the field of poetry itself. YouTube videos of performance poets Nate Marshall and Sarah Jones were shown as some of the board members’ favorite artists. Marshall, a Chicago native who attended Mason’s high school, was recently featured in DePauw’s Kelly Writer Series on Feb. 7.
Sophomore Tabatha Sotomayor, a member of the Enlightened Voices’ Public Relations board, chose to show Sarah Jones’s “Your Revolution.” However, she too supported the club’s goal of variety.
“These two performances were much similar in their lyricisms and the way they performed,” Jones said. “But not every kind of poetry is meant for performances like these. It’s important to look at all kinds of mediums, poetry and art, and we want to include all those and talk about them.”
No matter the level of involvement in poetry or the variety of medium through which members express themselves, secretary Sandra Laserna Cowell, as well as the rest of the Enlightened Voices board, wants fellow students to feel safe and comfortable. “We want to make sure this is a space where, even if you don’t identify as a poet, we want you to know that anything you bring to the table is really valuable,” Cowell said.
Enlightened Voices will convene again on Mar. 15 at 5 p.m. in Reese Hall. Williams encouraged anyone who is interested to direct message the club’s Instagram page, enlightened.voices, for more information or just to come to the next meeting.
“Show up at the next meeting excited and with a smile on your face,” Williams said.