Nicholls State University fraternities will have to wait until September to select new members, after recruitment period was pushed this fall.

The Inter Fraternity Council usually holds the mutual selection period for new members during the second full week of each fall semester. The 2016 Fraternity Recruitment Period, however, will be held from September 13 to 17.

“I think that the best benefit of having recruitment later in the semester is that people who want to pledge have an opportunity to learn [about] the different fraternities and the way that the school works,” Will Carothers, IFC President, said. “That way, they can feel more comfortable before they decide where they are going to be set for the next four years.”

Delaying recruitment will allow both the IFC and the fraternities more time to promote their rush. This move will also give the students the opportunity to experience each fraternity’s involvement on and off campus.

“I think that pushing rush back will benefit all fraternities and allow guys that are on the fence about rushing more time to think over their decision,” Ian Shows, Kappa Sigma president said. “Having a late rush will allow potential members the opportunity to see what fraternity members really do on campus rather than hearing about it from others.”

This move can increase in the number of students reached by Greek members during the next three weeks, which can potentially lead to more members pledging this fall.

“Recruitment will be affected by this push in a more positive manner,” Gage Broussard, Tau Kappa Epsilon Vice President and Rush Chairman said. “The more guys rushing, the more guys each individual fraternity can get. In our fraternity we have an average of 15 guys [pledging]. If we wait and push it back long we may get from 20 to 25 to continue to grow the fraternity and have a prosperous year.”

The negative side of the postponement is that Greek Night happened this Wednesday, before the fraternities had the chance to recruit pledgers.

“Greek night normally takes place the day after people chooses which fraternity they will join,” Carothers said. “In this way, it allows them to have their first experience with Greek life.”

This semester, however, not all the people who may end up joining the fraternities will have the opportunity to have the same sort of experiences. According to Carothers, to solve this issue, the Office of Greek Life decided to make Greek Night open to all the potential new members that are registered for rush, even before they receive a bid and pledge to be part of a fraternity.

Every year, Greek Life contributes with thousands of hours of community service both on Campus and in the community. Increasing the involvement rates will consequently increase the number of community-focused activities, which benefits the society as whole.

The recruitment process typically starts with a three-night event, that includes an informational sessions where each fraternity has the opportunity to present their values to students interested in joining Greek Life. During those events, the students are able to gain a better understanding of the Fraternity system at Nicholls, as well as their goals, community involvement and realizations.

The next step involves one-on-one experiences among new students and active members of each fraternity. At this point, the student has the chance to experience each fraternity environment and see which one is more compatible to his personality.

Recruitment concludes after a student is offered bids to join fraternities. The student can then decide to pick one of the bids received and join Greek life or to decline all bids.