Kent State University, like many colleges in the United States, has been struggling with budget cuts. 

For many students, this won’t affect their school experience much. However, for students of the arts, the constant threat of budget cuts can feel daunting. 

When schools face budget cuts, the arts are often the first programs affected. While Kent State has promised that no programs within the university will suffer, other schools in Ohio cannot say the same. 

Youngstown State University, a public university, recently cut arts programs following funding issues. Baldwin Wallace University, a private university known for their focus on the performing arts, is also facing financial struggles. 

These are just two of the schools on the long list of Ohio institutions facing tough financial decisions. 

The largest motivation for schools to cut funding and programs is “the demographic cliff.” 

This concept is centered around, “the U.S. birth rate falls, high school class sizes are getting smaller and smaller, so there are fewer traditionally aged high school students around to continue on to higher education,” according to the Statehouse News Bureau. 

Despite this, Kent State University maintains that nothing significant will change for students, even  when taking into account Kent State Transformation 2028, the school’s proposal for saving money within the next few years. 

The budget cuts

Transformation 2028 is Kent State University’s plan for a balanced budget across the board. The model includes five options to restructure the university. 

Each of these plans would save the school about $1 million dollars annually and is said to not negatively impact the students. 

In an online presentation back in February, University President Todd Diacon said the school will need to reduce spending within the next four years between $10 million and $25 million each year. 

“The school will need to make noticeable reductions in the number of employees at Kent State,” Diacon said during the presentation. 

Diane Helfers Petrella, Dean of the College of the Arts at Kent State University, oversees the School of Music, the School of Theatre and Dance, the School of Fashion, the School of Art, as well as events like the Blossom Music Festival, the Blossom Art Intensives and the Porthouse Theater. 

Petrella has been the Dean for 3 and a half years. The budget cuts come as no surprise to her. 

“Since I arrived, we’ve actually been kind of preparing for this. The enrollment decline thats supposed to be coming in 2025 is not unexpected. The state funding declines and some of the other things that are impacting our budget, like inflation and a lot of the cost of doing business has gotten more expensive. We’ve anticipated some of that.” 

Recently, the faculty made “curricular revisions that I think are just really smart, that make our curriculum better, more competitive, better for our students but also are a little bit more streamlined in our offering so that we can be a little bit more efficient,” Petrella said. 

Tony Hardin, director of the School of Theatre and Dance and executive producer at the Porthouse Theater, explained that not much is going to change for the school anytime soon. 

“[The art programs] are always very fiscally responsible,” Hardin said. “We only buy what we need, and we’re always looking for the best bargain. That’s what theater people do and have done for centuries.” 

Historically, artists have been known to be resourceful and are often called “scrappy.” According to Those In Higher Ed, “Those in the acting profession are trained to respond and solve, without fail. They are taught – and expected – to make it work, whatever problem they face. To do so, they are resourceful and quick-thinking.” 

“One of the reasons I came to Kent State is because Kent State values the arts,” Hardin said. “Whether it’s our musical theater program, whether it’s Porthouse Theater, whether it’s our design and technology program. These are all very strong programs that have consistent enrollment and provide, again, that very necessary aspect to college life for this community.” 

Reynoldsburg, Ohio, elementary school arts teacher Kenya Davis, believes the arts are often under attack when it comes to trying to decrease funding within public schools and universities. 

“In tough economic times, fine arts education courses are among the first on the chopping block,” Davis said. 

For Kent State, no direct plans to defund the arts have been proposed by the administration. Despite this, students are still worried. 

What students are thinking

Niko Thomas, a junior BFA musical theater major at Kent State, explained their two main concerns. 

While having materials and supplies from previous shows can be great when it comes to sustainability and financial purposes, not having funds to purchase new items for productions poses a concern for students. 

Thomas said the main worry is that the production team will choose shows based on the resources they already have, rather than picking a show that would require new purchases to be made. 

“This may not be the most diverse show. It may not be a show that’s very kind to plus-sized people, people who may have different types of curves, because they don’t want to alter or do too much when it comes to costuming to save money,” Thomas continued. 

Thomas’ concern is that eventually, certain costs will be up to the individual student to cover. 

“Certain people might have to start paying out of pocket for their costumes, or, out of pocket for certain items that were usually covered,” Thomas said. “And I think that affects students negatively, because myself…I’ve grown up in the lower middle class, it’s difficult trying to pay for sheet music by myself, let alone an entire costume.”

Additionally, Thomas worries that budget cuts would deter new students from attending Kent State. 

“I’m not going to want to come to a school whose shows look half-baked, and not having money to put in means that we won’t have money coming in as well,” they said. “I think the reputation of the school would be in jeopardy based off how much we will lose.” 

Dean Petrella, however, ensured that these worries are for naught. 

“That has absolutely not been on the table in any way, shape or form. A lot of our special classes already have fees in place that are minor to cover materials and things like that. We’re not changing those fees.”

She further explained the school’s commitment to the programs they currently have in place, along with an understanding of how much they cost.

“We have an upper administration at Kent State that is highly supportive of the arts programming and understands some of the specific needs that we have that are just outside of the realm of a typical course, so I don’t anticipate those costs being passed on to students,” Petrella said.  

Hailey Strnad, a sophomore integrated language arts major and double minor in theater performance and theater management, is studying at the university in hopes of teaching both English and theater. 

When it comes to budget cuts, Strnad believes that school administrators often prioritize sports over arts programs. 

“They don’t see the value in art,” Strnad said. “I think there’s a lot of things you can do in storytelling. Nothing against sports… there’s a thrill to that, but there can also be a thrill to shows that maybe you can’t always see, like from the outside, and also you can learn a lot from it too.” 

For many people, the arts are an integral part of life. Strnad is one of them. 

The importance of the arts

“I think that a lot can be said within storytelling,” Strnad said. “You can represent people that maybe aren’t always represented in everyday life, and sort of give them a platform, and I think that’s also very important.”

Hardin explained that the community sees the arts programs and their performances as “the front porch” of the university, because of their public-facing aspect. 

In the meantime, the School of Theatre and Dance will continue to cut costs where they can. 

“Theater is expensive because materials – and all of the resources are expensive – we reuse things when we can, we have stock properties and different things,” Hardin said. “For example, for ‘The Wiz’ coming up, we’re reusing some of the scenic elements that were in ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ They’re being repainted and altered, but we’re reusing some of those materials.”

Hardin mentioned that the School of Theatre and Dance will continue upholding its commitment to foster strong performers and performances, no matter what budget cuts take place within Kent State. 

“I don’t have a crystal ball, I don’t know what’s going to happen, I’m going to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Hardin said. “We’re going to continue to be good stewards, and at the end of the day, we will do what is necessary to remain strong and vibrant and lend what we can to Kent State.”

The future is uncertain, but The School of Theatre and Dance at Kent State University will continue to provide quality education and entertaining performances that benefit the lives of the community.