Assistant Director of Campus Life Jese Ledbetter said rollover funds from the canceled Phillip Phillips concert may make two STAR concerts a possibility in the fall.

STAR is still unsure of how the majority of the money from Phillips’ concert cancellation will be spent. Ledbetter said STAR will allocate more funds to the remaining few events of this semester, but 90 percent of the money will be rolled over into next year’s budget.

“We didn’t really want to go from Phillip Phillips, who’s really big, to someone else, and the weather wasn’t looking good,” Ledbetter said. “So we went with letting the budget roll over.”

With the budget rolling over, STAR will have more funds at their disposal next semester, Ledbetter said, opening up the possibility of two concerts or one big-name performer coming to St. Thomas in the fall. If STAR were to offer two concerts, one of them would likely be Phillips in November, if he re-books, and an outdoor show on the John P. Monahan Plaza in September.

STAR is still unsure of which route they will take, and is looking for student opinions to help shape their choice.

STAR is offering a survey on their webpage and Facebook page that gives choices of artists that have performed college tours in the past, including Florida Georgia Line, Christina Perri, Trampled By Turtles, Little Big Town and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. The survey also asks students about their genre preferences: contemporary pop, Indie folk, country, alternative, rock, Christian or rap/hip-hop.

“We’re looking at the survey in regard to a September show, because STAR’s student feedback has shown that students really want to bring back the outdoor venue,” Ledbetter said.

Junior Ryan Nolan said that he would enjoy a rock or pop artist and while he prefers a one concert with a big act, two concerts could provide more widespread appeal.

“I think one big performer would be a lot more fun,” Nolan said. “But I think it’d be safer if they went with two people. Like a rock artist and a country artist or something, just to make sure that everybody is happy.”

Phillips’ management informed St. Thomas on May 6, that Phillips would have to cancel his May 11 concert due to health concerns. Phillips’ cancellation also affected five other schools from the college tour. There’s a possibility that Phillips will reschedule his St. Thomas concert, as well as his five other shows, for sometime in November.

Nolan had “definitely been planning on going” to Phillips’ show on the Plaza, but said he recognizes the importance of Phillips’ recuperation.

“I’m upset, but I understand that his health is more important than performing for a bunch of college students,” Nolan said.

While offering two concerts would likely make some returning St. Thomas students happier, this solution doesn’t benefit the seniors graduating in May.

Senior Nick Yannarelly was planning on going to the Phillip Phillips concert and is disappointed about the cancellation because the semester concert is one of the few STAR events he attends.

“The cancellation didn’t really change my life that much, but I was disappointed because I knew it was expensive and because I’m a senior, it’s my last concert of college,” Yannarelly said. “So the idea of it being cancelled was kind of saddening.”

Senior David Yates said he doesn’t expect his school to provide him with entertainment, but still shared Yannarelly’s sentiment.

“Whether or not I was going, my student fee was going towards Phillip Phillips coming,” Yates said. “Now that money isn’t being spent on Phillips, and I’m not going to have the opportunity to go to any future concerts, even though they’re using that money.”

STAR has not yet discussed the possibility of seniors being allowed to attend the fall events, but Yannarelly hopes that they do consider the option. He said he’d be disappointed if St. Thomas did secure one big name artist and thinks he should be able to attend as compensation for Phillips’ cancellation.

“I would hope that seniors who are graduating now would still be able to participate next fall,” Yannarelly said.

Maggie Whitacre can be reached at whit0467@stthomas.edu.