More Than a Club: Inside UMass HFA’s Student Leadership Group
Written by Chloe Borgida
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We had the opportunity to sit down with two of HFA’s Student Leadership Group (SLG) Executive Board members to learn more about the club’s purpose, growth, and events. At its core, SLG is a student-led, student-run Registered Student Organization (RSO) that has grown into one of the most open, creative, and cross-disciplinary communities in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at UMass.
SLG operates differently than most student organizations. Instead of a hierarchy of president, secretary, and treasurer, its executive board is composed of committee chairs: students who each lead one of four core branches of the group: Special Events, The Scribe, field trips, and the Creative Events Collective (CEC). A social media coordinator rounds out the executive board.
“We have a very non-traditional e-board,” says Marissa Bell ’26, chair of Special Events. “We just kind of split responsibilities. There’s no president or treasurer. It’s more collaborative, and it works really well for us.”
Finding Their Way
Like many SLG leaders, Marissa and Lauren Brown ’27 didn’t join out of obligation, they joined because of people.
Marissa first heard about SLG during freshman orientation but didn’t attend a meeting until her sophomore year, encouraged by her roommate, who was then chair of Special Events. What she found surprised her: a relaxed, welcoming group that treated meetings as both planning sessions and hangouts. “It was more like, let’s talk about an event for a bit, and then maybe play games or just chat while we work on small tasks,” she recalls. When her roommate eventually stepped away, Marissa ran for the chair position and has been leading the committee ever since.
Lauren’s path was similar. Friends invited her during the second semester of her freshman year, and the chair of what was then the Showcase Committee happened to be a leader in another organization she loved. “I ended up staying in someone’s office until midnight picking art pieces for a gallery,” she says with a laugh. “It was so fun, and that’s kind of when I knew I wanted to stick around.” By the following year, she was unexpectedly asked to co-chair the committee, or “kind of Nepo-babied in,” she jokes. Now, as co-chair of the newly renamed Creative Events Collective, she helps run some of SLG’s most ambitious programming.
A Year of Growth, Creativity, and Pride
This year, both officers experienced moments that captured what SLG means to them.
For Marissa, it was the fall mid-semester Halloween celebration, an event she had struggled to perfect in past years. “The sound system in the room is always a fight,” she explains. “But this year I just brought my own speaker, and everything finally worked how I imagined it.” Watching students laugh over crafts, chat over candy, and enjoy a movie made the night feel like a breakthrough. “It was the best-run event so far,” she says proudly.
Lauren’s proudest moment is more recent. When unexpected changes in campus event regulations caused her committee to cancel their planned fall music showcase, she and co-chair Logan Osorio ’26 pivoted quickly. Together, they organized a battle of the bands in collaboration with Students for Alternative Music (SALT). When applications opened, more than 20 student bands auditioned. “It was like, oh my gosh, this actually worked,” Lauren says. The event quickly became one of the most anticipated arts events of the semester.
If SLG Were a Person…
When asked to describe SLG as if it were a single person, both officers chose the same word: welcoming.
That ethos is set from the start of every meeting. Marissa begins with introductions—name, pronouns, major, followed by an intentionally playful icebreaker. “I try to make them almost stupid,” she admits. “But funny. I want people to laugh and feel comfortable.”
The result is a space where students talk across majors, class years, and social circles. Conversations flow easily, and the room is always buzzing, clear signs that people feel at home.
Where All Majors Meet
One of SLG’s defining features is that anyone can join, regardless of major. Some of the group’s most enthusiastic members come from STEM and other non-arts fields.
For Lauren, this diversity is one of SLG’s greatest strengths. “I don’t usually get to interact with students outside my departments,” she says. “But at SLG, you meet people you’d never have class with. And then you’re reading their short stories or hearing their band play. It’s so cool.”
Whether students are reviewing submissions for The Scribe literary journal, planning gallery shows through the Creative Events Collective, or organizing field trips to museums and cultural spaces in New York City, SLG creates opportunities to engage with the humanities in ways classes often don’t. “It gives us time to sit, think about art, and talk about art,” Lauren says. “That hour every Tuesday really brightens my week.
Inside A Typical SLG Meeting
A SLG meeting is structured but relaxed, purposeful but never uptight.
Meetings begin with casual conversation, followed by icebreakers and announcements. Members then break into committee groups to work on upcoming projects, designing Canva posts, reviewing submissions, brainstorming themes, writing emails, or simply collaborating while music plays softly in the background.
“We’re the masters of goofing off,” Lauren shares. “Sometimes it’s just me and my friends hanging out, getting stuff done, putting each other on new bands, joking around. Even when the logistical stuff piles up, it’s still really fun.
Members can commit to one committee or move between them week to week, and new members are always welcome.
For the Future
Looking ahead, SLG’s leadership envisions more events, more collaboration, and more opportunities for student artists to be seen and celebrated.
The Creative Events Collective hopes to expand from one major event per year to several, including music showcases, gallery exhibitions, and potential DJ events. The Field Trip Committee aims to organize multiple trips each semester, while Special Events continues building inclusive, high-energy programming. Across all committees, growing membership and enthusiasm point toward a bright future.
Both Lauren and Marissa will graduate in the coming years, but they are excited by the number of members who are choosing to stay involved and step into leadership roles. “We’re seeing more people who stick around,” Marissa says. “That’s really exciting.”
At the end of the day, SLG is more than an organization, it’s a creative community built on collaboration, curiosity, and genuine student connection. Whether you’re planning events, reading poetry, traveling to museums, or listening to student bands perform, SLG offers a home for anyone at UMass looking to engage more deeply with the arts.
SLG meets every Tuesday from 7–8 p.m. in South College E470.
Follow them on Instagram at @umasshfa_slg to stay up to date on meetings, events, and opportunities to get involved.
SLG Executive Board (2025–26)
Special Events Committee
Marissa Bell ’26
The Scribe Committee
Mia Ikeda ’27, Editor-in-Chief
Nora Gabriel ’27
Field Trip Committee
Song Waitekus ’28
Rachel Tappe ’29
Creative Events Collective
Lauren Brown ’27
Logan Osorio ’26
Social Media
Leah DellaMonica ’27