Loyally Kappa, I love your sense of humor! I'm a punny person as well, so I really appreciated your play words.
The new dates for recruitment were implemented around the mid-1990s. Your sources are correct that the mass exodus of disappointed PNMs had a lot to do with the change.
I think for the last few years, some of the parties have been around midterms. I can't imagine having to juggle classes with all the responsibilities of recruitment, but having to study for a test, and a midterm at that, would be so stressful. Can you imagine how many pots of coffee are consumed during that week?!?