A Student Senate resolution passed at the end of Winter Quarter should make it easier for student groups to use an outside catering business for on-campus events.

The resolution is the result of an on-going dispute between the current catering policy and the International Student Union over whether the group qualifies for an exemption from the policy because of cultural reasons.

“ISU has felt targeted by the policy in the past,” said Adam Fardy, the Student Senate international affairs commissioner and author of the resolution. “If you don’t mean what you say in a policy, you need to change that.”

The resolution urges that the exemption policy be applied to the ISU along with smaller international groups it comprises, evenly and across the board. One of the resolution’s major precepts is the development of a pre-approved Baker Catering list, which would comprise outside caterers who meet OU’s standards of health insurance and other factors.

Much of the food the ISU wants to have at its events is culturally specific, and it’s important for it to be made correctly, said Jennifer Musser, communications director for ISU. For international students, it’s a way for them to reconnect with their homeland, and for American students, it’s a chance to get in touch with another culture.

“When it comes down to it, students are offering a piece of their culture, and I think it’s wrong to cause this much difficulty to them,” Hardy said.

Student groups do have the option of using one of the kitchens on campus, but it costs about $500 for a single use, Musser said. Some of the cost is because a licensed Baker official has to be in attendance during the food preparation to ensure it’s prepared in accordance with OU’s safety policies.

The ISU and OU have been in talks since last year, but it was only recently that progress began to be made, Musser said.

“We’ve been really looking for more cooperation with them,” she said. “It feels like they’re hindering us instead of helping us.”

Part of the problem is that the ISU is actually a compilation of 18 smaller international student groups, which has made organizing guidelines difficult, said Gwyn Scott, executive director of Culinary and Dining Operations.

A February 20 meeting created dialogue between the ISU and OU officials, where the problems with the policy were addressed and solutions offered. The Student Senate resolution grew out of these discussions, Fardy said.

Scott said she didn’t know anything about the resolution, but nonetheless was trying to correct the problems in the immediate future.

“We have to streamline the process and make it easy to get from planning stage through execution of the event. There needs to be guidelines, and that’s really what we worked on,” Scott said.