Gregory Weaver didn’t plan to join a fraternity.In fact, Weaver was moving into Milton Daniel Hall before his freshman year when members of Pi Kappa Phi helped him carry boxes. He recognized most of them from orientation and Frog Camp, and before long, Weaver signed a bid to join Pi Kap.

“I decided that I only wanted a Pi Kap bid,” Weaver said. “It became something I really wanted to do.”

he said getting to know the Pi Kaps outside formal recruitment made him want to join.

“I got to know them better when they were outside, not trying to recruit me.” he said. “They were just being themselves.”

Although TCU Greek organizations recruit in the fall, some say they feel students would benefit from a spring – or deferred – recruitment, which would give new students more time to adjust to university life.

Senior George Ferguson, Interfraternity Council vice president of fraternity recruitment, said he is in favor of a deferred recruitment.

“It would give more time for people to get to know each other,” Ferguson said. “It’s hard to really know someone your first week here.”

Ferguson said while high fall recruitment numbers may be good for organizations as a whole, he said he thinks they don’t always benefit the student. Having more time to focus on academics without Greek activities would probably benefit the individual student, he said.

Ferguson said he proposed a spring recruitment earlier this year but received a negative response from other students and advisers.

“I honestly think it would be beneficial,” he said. “But it seems like everyone thinks, ‘Why change it if nothing is wrong?'”

TCU Panhellenic Adviser Stephanie Williams said there are not enough problems with fall recruitment to consider a change.

“At first glance, it seems like it would solve everyone’s problems,” Williams said. “But Greek grades are good, and retention is good. Why fix it if it’s not broken?”

Senior Brennan Barnes, Panhellenic director of recruitment, said that while it might help students find their place, it could also lead to a negative recruiting atmosphere.

“Chapters are very competitive,” Barnes said, “and spring recruitment would give them a full semester of that competition.”

Fall recruitment gives students equal time with each Greek organization, Barnes said, instead of spending too much time with only one chapter.

Unlike TCU, SMU has used deferred recruitment for almost 50 years. The reason is a focus on academics, said Ryan Lewis, Greek adviser at SMU. Students must meet a minimum GPA of 2.25 and complete 12 hours before they are eligible for recruitment.

He said some students socialize with too many Greek chapters during fall semester and don’t meet the grade requirement.

“No system is completely perfect,” Lewis said. “The benefit of ours is also the challenge.”

Williams said TCU doesn’t have the same academic co ncerns as its Metroplex rival.

“We’ve always had strong numbers,” Williams said. “We’ve not seen the need.”

For many universities, a large concern is money. The University of Texas recently vetoed a plan to move to deferred recruitment, citing too much lost revenue.

A report given to the Vice President of Student Affairs James Vick said, “The deferral of recruitment would be a severe financial hardship for many of the student chapters.”

Fraternities receive money through membership dues and chapter house payments, Lewis said. The fraternity also has to pay certain fixed costs to the university or other sources. If the number of members decreases, fraternities adjust dues to cover those costs, Lewis said.

James Parker, associate dean of Campus Life, said revenue loss would not affect Greek life at TCU.

“It’s a one-semester gap in revenue,” Parker said. “The organizations it would hurt would be the national groups.”

Often schools defer recruitment to increase numbers, Williams said.

“Our student body is more active in recruiting,” Williams said. “It’s never been a problem here.”

Parker said that rather than focusing on recruiting more students, he focuses on improving the system.

“We focus on having a good product,” Parker said. “We want to provide instant connection to the university.”

Although Ferguson said he agrees that fall recruitment offers instant connection to campus, he said he feels a spring recruitment would allow students to choose where they want to connect to campus.

“It might not benefit everybody,” Ferguson said, “but it would be better for the individual student.”

The choice to change recruitment systems is up to upper administration, Parker said.

Reasons to change systems vary from campus to campus, Lewis said.

“It takes more than changing the system to address most problems,” Lewis said.