Before some women have ever stepped foot into a classroom at UK, they have made up their minds what sorority they want to be a part of for the rest of their college careers.

UK has traditionally held its sorority rush the week before the Fall semester of the academic year. It does not offer it in the spring. But according to a Kernel article Tuesday, the UK Panhellenic Council recently considered moving sorority recruitment two or three weeks into the Fall semester and possibly adding one in the spring. They ultimately decided to keep the traditional recruiting period.

Reviewing the timetable of sorority rush was a wise choice, but sticking with the original plan is not the best decision for this university or its students.

After visiting Purdue University to see how its Greek system recruited, UK concluded that a change would be “detrimental to the current recruitment system,” Panhellenic Council President Julie Meador said in Tuesday’s Kernel.

Detrimental seems to be to the Greek system’s success at recruiting, and not a new member’s ability to make an educated, less pressured decision. Part of the reason for keeping the system as it is now is for already active fraternity members, and not potential members.

“There would be conflict with academics and other UK community events such as football games, women’s sports and leadership summits,” said Susan West, director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

“Purdue had many scheduling conflicts for both their recruiters and potential members,” she said. “Recruiters missed class to prepare for the recruitment events and got behind in their studies.”

West’s assessment is acceptable. But there are better alternatives than doing sorority recruitment before students have even begun their studies.

Moving recruitment two or three weeks into the Fall semester would only jeopardize students’ studies during the budding weeks of their college careers.

The most beneficial proposal would be to move both sorority and fraternity rush to only the Spring semester (fraternities at UK do recruitment for the Fall and Spring semesters), or to require students to be in at least their second semester to be eligible for recruitment.

This seems radical, but it’s not. It would benefit the university, the students and actually, the Greek system.

By pushing the recruitment period back, students would have a better opportunity to concentrate on their grades and get acclimated to the university. They could explore other organizations this campus has to offer and meet people outside of the Greek community.

“Moving into the dorms, starting classes and making new friends is a lot to handle without adding the pressure of joining a sorority,” said Christina Criollo, a merchandising and textiles senior.

And if a student decided he or she wanted to join the Greek system, they would be better prepared to make that decision because they would have more time to develop relationships, said Emily Perrin, vice president of recruitment for Centre’s Panhellenic Council. At Centre, students are required to be in at least their second semester to be eligible for recruitment.

“Choosing a sorority isn’t a gut decision based on the few nights you spend in that house; it’s based on the women you know,” Perrin said.

Plus, the sororities and fraternities could look at students’ grade point averages and determine if they’re ready for the commitment based on how they did the first semester. It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved.

Joining a fraternity or sorority has numerous advantages and everybody should consider becoming a part of the Greek system. But there is more to UK than Greek life.

The university should either push recruitment back to the week before school starts in the Spring semester or require all students be in at least their second semester before joining a fraternity or sorority.

Changing tradition is never easy, but it’s a change worth making.