Students scrambling to catch free T-shirts sailing through the air outside the Sun Dome on Thursday night could mean only one thing: It’s Round-Up time.

The yearly event, which is organized by the Campus Activities Board and other organizations, welcomed USF students into a new academic year with a student organizations fair, where 90 to 95 organizations,such as Student Government and the Student Society for Stem Cell Research were represented.

The night was capped off with comedy performances from Mo’Nique and Ty Barnett. Toiaya Crawford, late-night program director for CAB and a senior majoring in psychology, said she projected a “full house” for the night’s festivities.

The format of the event has not changed much in recent years because it is a “traditional event,” Crawford said. CAB wanted to “keep that aspect of it, but keep it more modern,” she said.

Derek Valukis, a junior majoring in sociology and a resident assistant in Delta Hall, said Round-Up is more of a “freshman-based event,” since students generally get more involved with the University as they become upperclassmen.

The event is an “easy way to get the freshmen out here and active,” he said. “(It’s a) good way to get them pumped up about the school they’re attending.”

Round-Up may be thought of as an event mostly for new students, but the Transfer Student Council had a table set up, handing out cookies to the passers-by.

“There used to be an Adult Transfer Student office on campus, and they closed it,” said Don Payne, treasurer of the TSC and a senior majoring in electrical engineering.

Payne, who transferred to USF in 2004 from HCC, said the organization was formed after the office closed because they “thought that the transfer students were not being catered to.” Though the TSC did not find an overwhelming number of transfer students at Round-Up, Payne said they were at least able to speak face to face with the transfer students who came to the booth.

David Brickhouse, a junior majoring in political science and SG’s director of internal affairs, said the goal of SG’s presence at Round-Up was to “get more people involved, let them know what we’re about and what we can do for them, and have a good time. It’s a great way to welcome the students back.”

Round-Up’s attendees were mainly students, but Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies Glen Besterfield was among the crowd of students looking at the different booths. Though he has been working at USF for 18 years, Besterfield was a first-time Round-Up attendee.

“I’ve never been to this event, and this is so incredible,” he said. “Without an event like this, we don’t get the students involved in campus life. I wish more faculty could be here to see this.”