Performing arts groups will be looking towards the student government association for their funding as of the 2026-2027 academic year.

Comedy, dance, instrumental and vocal group leaders from across Suffolk attended a Performing Arts Office leadership summit to go over changes for the upcoming year Jan. 31. At this year’s event, finances were the main topic at hand.

“We talk about upcoming changes, how we can adapt, how we can better lead our groups, so that was sort of the idea of going into this year,” said Brady Hurvitz, co-president of the Soulfully Versed a cappella group. “But a big part of that was discussing the financials and how that’s gonna change and how those processes change.”

Budget cuts hit Suffolk across all aspects of campus this past fall, diminishing funds for clubs and PAO groups. When PAO clubs started going to SGA initiatives asking for larger requests, SGA members, like treasurer Frank Ezhan, realized how bad the cuts hit the PAO specifically.

“So from there, we were like, ‘Okay, yeah, there’s clearly an issue here. What can we do to support them,’” said Ezhan.

Ultimately, the SGA e-board and Director of the Student Leadership and Involvement, Dave DeAngelis, decided the best point of action was combining the financial responsibilities of the clubs and PAO groups under the student government. Ezhan knew clubs needed more funding, but after talking to PAO leaders about them not getting the funding they needed through the school, he realized it was important for SGA to make the PAO groups feel supported too.  

“It felt unfair at the end of the day,” said Ezhan. “So we wanted to make sure that we were able to kind of heal that wound a little bit.” 

SGA Class of 2026 senator and captain of TipTapToe, Amanda Fagan, is looking at this as an opportunity for collaboration across campus. Without the dividing title of organizations that fall under SLI or PAO, there will not be the need for separate LEAP summit events. Communication about finance and events will fall under one student-led administration. 

“I think keeping the power within the students, I think that is powerful in itself,” said Hurvitz. “I really hope that PAO and SGA can really harvest a relationship that’s smart for both organizations.”

At this past summit, Fagan said the announcement was followed by reassurance from both PAO and SGA that there will be help in this transition.

“‘We’ll walk you through every step of the way, anything you need, we’re here for you.’ Which was very nice to have that support,” said Fagan.

One roadblock that kept this divide in the past was the audition process that many PAO groups have to incorporate into their recruitment. Fagan’s group, TipTapToe, is one of the few in the PAO that are open to all members.

“If you are an audition-based [group] and not letting everybody in, you are not able to get the same budget that, say, I would,” said Fagan. “Certain PAO groups weren’t allowed to go through SGA because they weren’t open for everybody.”

Change on both ends, for SGA and PAO groups, will be expected as they navigate this transition.

“It’s going to be different and it’s going to be weird and some groups might not get as much as they usually do from PAO,” said Kayleigh Carey, the vice president of SGA and general member of W!CKED.

Budgets may be weird for the first year, especially with a one-size-fits-all plan that SGA plans to disperse amongst all the groups, despite the size of their members or individual needs for the group.

“I really think the most important thing is harvesting this community, making sure that everyone gets what they need and SGA getting a better idea of what groups need on an individual level,” said Hurvitz. “To generalize PAO as it is right now, when talking about money, is gonna be a hard thing.”

The PAO council will still have money to host the bigger shows like Spring Fest.

The rising captain and current secretary of Seriously Bent, James Butler, is concerned about how young student leaders will adapt to this change, with a new process starting as soon as their veteran club members are leaving.

“I just wish, based on everything I’m hearing, that they just had better communication,” said Butler. “That they at least send out an email or two or three after the summit to say, ‘Hey, here’s exactly how it’s going to go. Here’s what we’re thinking for next year. Here’s who to talk to you. Here’s some emails. 
Here’s some numbers.’ You know? Just establish a new line of communication, and establish all of these changes.”

Budgets being dispersed equally between groups instead of tailored for individual needs was information that Butler heard for the first time during an interview with The Suffolk Journal.

“We’re going to all be just kind of abandoned because everything we have previously known and could have prepared for is being thrown out and now it’s a whole new thing,” said Butler. “Information isn’t being relayed to any of the group and it’s really, for lack of a better term, a little bit annoying that I’m finding all of this out now in an interview.”

Coming off a semester with delayed information and some groups not finding out their budgets until months into the semester, Ezhan explained that SGA’s goal is to help in any way they can.

“For the moment, while we understand they are hurt, [we’re] just trying to support,” said Ezhan.