New freshmen at Creighton might have noticed one thing missing during the fall: the beginning of the recruitment process for Greek Life.

Creighton’s recruitment process is very different compared to state schools’. For many schools like University of Nebraska at Lincoln, freshmen move in a week early to participate in recruitment. Students go from house to house during the warm days of August instead of room-to-room or event-to-event in the cold days of January, even though both are week-long processes.

Options are also limited as Creighton has only seven sororities and five fraternities. UNL on the other hand has 15 sororities and 25 fraternities.  While it might seem like a larger Greek community with an early recruitment might be the better way to go, I believe delayed recruitment is the better process.

Since freshmen cannot join a Greek organization right away, they get the chance to see what these different groups have to offer during fall semester. This can be as simple as going to one of the events held by the groups or getting to be in classes with members. Through personal experience, they get a better understanding of each group and of Greek life as a whole on campus. This allows freshmen to see how much time being a part of a Greek organization takes and what all is involved. Students aren’t going in blind compared to fall recruitment, which many schools complete before school even begins. The greater understanding helps students feel more comfortable going into recruitment since they have an understanding of what they are getting themselves into.

Another reason delayed recruitment helps is that freshmen have the chance to get more involved in other campus activities Since they have the whole fall semester free, it gives them a chance to sign up for different clubs and organizations. At Creighton, Greek life takes pride in the fact its members are involved in many other organizations. According to the Creighton website, “The Greek community at Creighton University is centered on creating well-rounded individuals. Greek students are involved in all aspects of campus including: service, leadership, scholarship and social opportunities. “

Furthermore, allowing students to get involved in different aspects of campus life before they join Greek Life can help students meet friends outside of their fraternities or sororities.  Traditional fall recruitment causes freshmen to mainly meet people in only Greek Life instead of a bunch of different people all involved in different areas of campus. Waiting a semester allows students to meet others in their classes and clubs. 

Stress is another big aspect of the first few weeks of college. New students can often feel a stress of being at a new school and not knowing people.  While recruitment can be fun, it can also be another source of stress. Waiting a semester before joining a Greek organization can help since the beginning of school stress is not there anymore.  It also keeps from piling extra stress on students.  It allows the new freshmen a semester to learn to balance classes and a new environment. Once second semester rolls around, they are more likely not to get overwhelmed.

While it may be a disappointment for some freshmen not to be able to go through recruitment in the fall like their friends at other schools, this actually gives students a great opportunity to meet other people outside of recruitment.