University officials canceled the Student Programming Association’s Lil’ Boosie concert, which was planned for Friday, because there was not enough time for promotion. Francisco Chacon, SPA advisor, said the University’s issue with the concert was SPA’s contract with Boosie. Student organizations are not allowed to promote an artist on campus until a contract is finalized, and the University’s purchasing department had yet to review SPA’s contract two weeks before the concert’s scheduled date.

Chacon estimated the concert would cost between $30,000 and $35,000. “Two weeks out with no contract and committing funds, administration felt there was not enough time to fully promote it,” Chacon said. “They probably would not have fully executed the contract for another week.”

Maggie Jones, SPA president, said the organization still wanted to hold the concert. “Everyone knew about it,” Jones said. “We knew we couldn’t put up fliers, but word of mouth is the best publicity.”

Jones said the concert would have been successful because Boosie’s new CD came out Sept. 15 and the concert would have been free to students. She said SPA members gathered over 500 signatures in the Union from students wanting to attend the concert.

“Basically, we were trying to rush this event,” Chacon said. The concert was planned to be the headline event of SPA’s homecoming block party, but Chacon said SPA had originally planned to sign a contract with several local artists. Twelve Stones, Meriwether and Corvina were considered before SPA decided on Boosie at the beginning of the semester.

SPA will be hosting several other events for students throughout the school year, including laser tag, diversity week and showings of “The Hangover” in Le Bijou Theater, but Jones said the job of refilling vacant SPA executive positions is slowing down the organization.

Five executive board members quit their positions including Brandon Keller, former SPA vice-president. Keller resigned after Jones decided to continue with the concert without a finalized contract a month before Homecoming. “The constant changing of plans didn’t allow for the proper time to plan the event,” Keller said. “If we stuck with the original plans, SPA wouldn’t be having the problems they are now.”

Four of the members who resigned work for The Nicholls Worth, and Jones said the two jobs conflicted for some, though they should have been aware of the time requirements for both. “We should have known, but we already have someone from The Nicholls Worth here, and they do awesome work,” Jones said. Two of the vacant position have been filled, and interviews have begun to select a new vice president.

Keller said the Boosie concert would have been something students wanted to attend, but the idea was introduced too late. “It would have been very irresponsible for SPA to spend $30,000 on a concert that was rushed,” Keller said.

Jones said she does not know if SPA will be putting on a concert this school year or if Boosie would still be interested in performing at Nicholls. “We still want him to come, but we’re not sure if he would since we had to cancel because of the University,” Jones said. “He left the date open just for us.