It's a process University of Tennessee administrators describe as "organized chaos."
Five thousand UT students, mostly freshman who will live on campus this school year, moved into the residence halls Saturday.
Faculty and staff members were on hand to welcome the students, and 300 volunteers from the community helped families move their students into their rooms.
"It's a tremendous amount of effort to get all these people in here in an organized way," said Chancellor Jimmy Cheek.
"We couldn't do it without Parking Services, UT police, KPD. It's really a joint community effort," said Director of Housing, Frank Cuevos.
Despite long lines at each of the 12 residence halls, UT students said they didn't mind. They are just glad to be on campus.
"It's my freshman year. I'm just excited to move in and meet everybody," said Ally Ward, an incoming student.
The university said there are more than 7,300 students expected to live on campus.