URI’s student-run coffeehouse is brewing back to life after more than a year of virtual events and online classes closed the shop. PHOTO CREDIT: James Singer
The University of Rhode Island’s COVID-19 task force has indefinitely postponed the Polo G concert originally scheduled to be held at the Ryan Center on Sep. 17.
The announcement came from a URI Communications press release sent through email the Tuesday before the concert. The press release announced that the COVID-19 task force would be revisiting pandemic guidelines for large campus events.
The decision came three days before the concert, in light of current data on the heightened risks of COVID-19 transmission at in-person events, according to the email. Large indoor events are subject to suspension by the University’s task force when pandemic conditions change.
During the week the concert was to be held, there were 34 positive cases out of 3,437 total tests taken at URI, according to the University’s COVID-19 tracker. The number of positive cases has significantly dropped compared to the previous spring semester rates, which had reached 180 positive cases in a single week at one point.
The Polo G concert would have been the first live concert at the Ryan Center since Lil Tjay performed on Feb. 28, 2020, for his “True 2 Myself” tour.
“I get it,” sophomore Justin Woodward said. “I definitely understand why the concert had to be canceled. But if [the University] wasn’t 100 percent sure that we would have this concert in September, then I feel like there shouldn’t have been a concert in the first place.”
The concert was booked in June after the University predicted that normal activities such as concerts would take place, according to the press release. A new date for the concert is under discussion.
Students and other community members have been looking forward to small steps of normalcy amid the pandemic. The concert, for many, would be the first time attending live music as early as before the pandemic’s start in 2020.
“A lot of my friends were really mad. A lot of them are Polo G fans,” Woodward said. “I was more upset that I couldn’t go to a real concert.”
The communications director for the COVID-19 task force, David Lavallee, did not comment about the decision.
According to the press release, adhering to COVID-19 guidelines remains vital as the University community returns to an in-person experience this fall. The goals of the COVID-19 task force prioritize safeguarding the experience and health of the URI community.
Ticketholders for the Polo G concert have been automatically refunded in full, according to the Polo G Concert Refund FAQ on the URI COVID-19 Response website. If a ticket holder paid with cash, they are instructed to return to the Ryan Center box office for a cash refund.
Students still hope to attend Ryan Center events safely.
“I absolutely plan on going to some basketball games and future concerts,” said Woodward. “The Playboi Carti concert [is] in December. Hopefully we’re going to be fine by then.”
Current URI policy for Ryan Center events requires all patrons to show printed proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination or a valid URI ID for admission. There has been no announcement at this time concerning the Playboi Carti concert set for Dec. 16 later this year at the Ryan Center.