Fluor Fountain Discovered To Be Fountain of Youth

Faithful Fluor Spokesperson Jeffrey Volkmer shares about Biola's Fountain of Youth | Zachary Fu/THE BELLS

The Fluor Fountain of Faith is one of Biola’s most recognizable landmarks and some recent findings have revealed that this fountain is much more than a peaceful homework area.

In 1956, Biola’s president, Dr. Samuel Sutherland, discovered a mysterious geyser in the middle of an olive grove in La Mirada. He realized that this geyser was actually the coveted fountain of youth.

Further research reveals that the founders of La Mirada also knew about the fountain. La Mirada in Spanish translates to mean “the look” which refers to the fountain's ability to grant the physical appearance of youth.

Dr. Sutherland quickly formed a secret group known as “The Faithful Fluor” and believed that Biola needed to build a new campus around the fountain in order to protect it. Sutherland chose to divide the primary stream of the geyser into three separate spouts to represent the three persons of the trinity.

The Faithful Fluor, also known as the Fluor Fountain Society, is comprised of the Bible professors at Biola and one chosen “elder” from each of the other departments. Once a professor is accepted into the secret society, a special ceremony is held. Bible Professor Jeffrey Volkmer was inducted in 2009.

“Some of the faculty put on dark robes. Some had on light robes. I was given a linen robe, not unlike the ephod in the Old Testament,” Volkmer said. “We had this procession down to the fountain… I thought, ‘Wow, I really don’t think we need multiple baptisms.’ So I was very relieved that it wasn’t another baptism, but it was just the first time that I would be able to drink from the fountain.”

Over the years, the elements of the special ceremony have changed to maintain relevance.

“There used to be the clanging of gongs, but some of us felt that it was too ironic with 1 Corinthians 13,” Volkmer said. “We wanted to have love and not be a clanging gong."

LONG-TERM DISCIPLESHIP

It is believed that certain professors, such as Prof. Matthew Weathers, have been teaching at Biola since the fountain was discovered in 1956. These professors have been forced to change their identity every 30 years to avoid creating suspicion.

Although Volkmer believes that God has blessed Biola with the fountain, he admits that having eternal youth is not always easy.

“When you look, you see the difficulty the elves had for instance, in The Lord of the Rings. Not everyone ends up in Rivendell. It’s a big responsibility so we need to be careful about who we let not die,” Volkmer said.

Mysteriously, the fountain’s properties have only been proven to work on those in the secret society and their immediate family members. Despite many unanswered questions, members of the Faithful Fluor believe that they have been blessed with the fountain so that they can be servants to others.

“We’re really into the long-term discipleship model and when I say long, I mean really long,” Volkmer said. “What really sets Biola apart is that we have a fountain of youth. You just can’t find that everywhere. Stanford, they don’t have it. Harvard, no. Only Biola has literally streams of living water.”