The first of two St. Thomas homecoming sweatshirt giveaways took place Monday night in the Lower Quad and outside the Brady Educational Center.

The line in the Lower Quad extended down the quad and through the arches. Even though the sweatshirts were not handed out until 7:30 p.m., the lines started to form more than two hours before, as STAR and USG members began to set up for the event.

This year, for the first time, STAR handed out tickets to those in line for the sweatshirts to keep the line moving as efficiently as possible.

Many students who were waiting past the arches before 7:30 p.m. left before 8 p.m. as the long line in front of them didn’t seem to shorten and the high stacks of sweatshirts disappeared from the tables. All the sweatshirts were gone within 35 minutes. More than 1,500 students RSVPed on the Facebook event page.

The same sweatshirts will be given away at noon Thursday, but only in the Lower Quad.

Ariel Kendall can be reached at akendall@stthomas.edu.