Monday morning was brought to life as music blasted through the campus mall, the smell of cotton candy rose in the air and dozens of students gathered around tables stacked high with T-shirts for the Homecoming Spirit Week Kick Off event on Oct. 27.

The event was centered around the T-shirt and hoodie swap. Students brought any lightly used T-shirts or hoodies from other college campuses and were able to trade them for a limited edition Spirit Week T-shirt with the Eagles Fight song across the back. All articles of clothing traded in were then donated locally. There were only 250 T-shirts available.

The T-shirt swap was meant to be a new EWU tradition; if this year’s T-shirt swap goes well, there will be more available next year.

SAIL and ASEWU worked to get students, faculty and community members fired-up for the rest of the week’s events. Hot 96.9 provided the music, while the students of EWU provided the enthusiasm.

“The atmosphere is, honestly, so welcoming,” said DJ Jigre, ASEWU president. He said everyone is focused on having a good time and that is what the event is all about.

The purpose for the kickoff event was to “set the mood for the whole Eagle Spirit Week,” said Jigre. “Make them hear you all the way in Spokane.”

Students danced, laughed, listened to music and gathered together in the mall to be a part of the kickoff event.

Jigre said EWU is a fun campus and a great community to be a part of; this is the students’ time to shine.

This year’s Homecoming events were designed to be more inclusive to members of the community. This year, “Homecoming and Parent and Family celebrations are wrapped into one,” according to the ASEWU Facebook page.

For more Homecoming and Spirit Week event information and entry forms, visit ewu.edu/homecoming.