Catering Conundrum
Staff writer Zak Baker discusses some conflicting catering information presented at Wednesday November 15th’s RSO training session.
Student leaders gathered in the Janet Leigh Theater for an mandatory Registered Student Organization training session hosted by the Student Leadership and Involvement Center. What was supposed to be a night of clarification and instruction soon turned into an evening of confusion and indignation. As Director of Student Involvement, Jesse Magana, briefed our student leaders on the ins and outs of running effective Registered Student Organizations, he flipped to a slide outlining the rules and regulations regarding the catering of student held events. This is that slide.
The most controversial aspect of this slide can be found in bullet point two, which states that “Only Bon Appetit can approve the use of an external caterer.” If this is indeed accurate, then this information directly contradicts the stated policy in the Registered Student Organization Handbook. Admittedly, this handbook is dated for 2022-2023. However, as it is the only published rules resource for student organizations to follow, we must assume that the information found within its 38 pages is accurate.
This is the only section of the handbook that covers catering and food. As you can see, there is nothing that indicates Bon Appetit has the authority to approve or disapprove of purchases from an outside vendor, so long as the purchase remains under $1,000 dollars. Additionally, the handbook states that Bon Appetit is required for events hosted in the DUC, meanwhile the slide presented by Jesse Magana states that Bon Appetit is also the required caterer for Anderson Hall and Grace Covell. The question for Mr. Magana is, which is it?
Additionally, the Pacifican received an image of the 23-24 RSO Handbook food section from an anonymous source. Seemingly nothing about the section has changed. According to statements made by Mr. Magana at the mandatory training session, the reason the student body doesn't have access to the most up to date version of this handbook is because we won't read it anyways. Setting aside the blatant disrespect for our student leadership contained with that quip, we must ask ourselves, given the discrepancies between the handbook and his slides, has Mr. Magana read it himself?
If you are interested in making your voice heard regarding the food service provided here at the University of the Pacific, this author strongly recommends you participate in a survey currently being conducted by the ASUOP. You may find this survey on the ASUOP instagram page, or at this link.
When asked for a comment Dr. Maria Blandizzi quickly responded with the following information: “The summary of what transpired at the RSO training session described in this article is not complete. Should a RSO leader like accurate information please visit the SLIC Office on the 2nd floor of the DUC to speak with the Student Life team.”
The Pacifican will continue to update if or when more information is acquired.