At some schools like the University of Southern California and New York University, rush occurs within days of arriving on campus freshman year.
Although students at other universities are excited about getting involved early on, College freshman Rebecca Holtz said she appreciated having a semester to settle into college before going Greek.
Unlike the process at many schools, Penn's sororities and fraternities don't begin formal recruitment until after winter break.
The University formally implemented spring rush in 1995, prior to which it did a fall recruitment.
Many people associated with the Greek community tout the benefits of a spring rush and say it is unlikely the University will return to a formal fall-recruitment system.
Scott Reikofski, director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, said he advocates spring recruitment because the commitment to a sorority or fraternity is so large.
For both guys and girls, the extra semester to transition to college life is a huge benefit of spring recruitment.
"By having recruitment in the spring, first-year women are able to have a semester to adapt - both academically and socially - to being away from home and acclimating to Penn," Mia Kumagai, a College junior and vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Council, wrote in an e-mail.
"It's important for girls to get on campus and learn who they are a little bit before they join a sorority," said Rebecca Feldman, a College junior and president of Delta Delta Delta.
Delaying rush until the spring semester is also beneficial for the existing Greek community. Ashkenazi said that delayed recruitment offers fraternities the opportunity to "sell" themselves to freshmen and to get an idea of the kind of recruits for which they are looking
Kumagai explained that spring recruitment allows freshmen to become involved in other organizations on campus before choosing to go Greek, which strengthens individual chapters and the entire Panhellenic community.
However, there are also downsides to waiting until second semester to recruit.
"We're the only student group that does delayed recruitment," said Ashkenazi. "We're at a real disadvantage . when kids are looking to join our organization, they already have prior commitments that they have to juggle."
Members of the Greek community agree that the other disadvantage of spring rush is potential problems that arise in finding members to live in chapter houses.
During the fall semester people "aren't as aware" of the possibility that they might be living in a sorority or fraternity house the next year, Feldman said.
"We don't know who's going to be joining our organization until after most off-campus leases are signed," Ashkenazi said.
Ashkenazi said the IFC is working with the Provost's Office to establish an informational session about the Greek community for all freshmen during New Student Orientation to raise awareness about the option of going Greek.
"I think ultimately the pros outweigh the cons," Ashkenazi said. "But they are really big cons . It's something we really have to work to overcome."
