A large crowd gathered at the new University Crossing building on Friday to see one of the country’s senators speak on the current state of politics and financial distress in America.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat that has made a name for herself by focusing on issues such as banking regulation and student loan debt, came to UMass Lowell to talk about her new book, “A Fighting Chance,” now a New York Times bestseller.

The Senator was introduced by Marty Meehan who, in the introductory speech, made a call to arms to fix the ongoing problem of student loan debt. “Student loan debt exceeds credit card debt,” said Meehan.

Student loans were a recurring theme that afternoon and when Warren finally took the stage, she opened with a passage from her book about her early life. Her family struggled financially and she had left college at the age of 19 to get married to her then husband, Jim Warren.

She eventually went back to school and continued with her education until she finally received her law degree at Rutgers University in NJ. Although times were bad to be a law student, she only saw things get worse for students with student loans.

Some statistics she had provided regarding student loans were alarming. “Over 40 million Americans are still stuck with student loan debt,” said Warren. She criticized the government’s policy on student loans for making things worse.

“You raise over 60 billion dollars in money for the government. You are an investment,” said Warren. She then spoke about how the government abuses this and cuts better deals with big banks than with students seeking higher education. “We’re just going to charge you extra to raise more money,” said Warren, in a tone mocking current Washington leaders.

Warren segued this into a story about how she created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as a way for Washington to be tough on big banks. The agency had proved difficult to start.

“Barney Frank said he will fight for it all the way,” said Warren. Warren’s idea for a bank-regulating agency was supported by politicians, many of whom were on the left.

Senator Warren noted that her idea, although it had support, had become controversial in the eyes of some high-ranking politicians. “They didn’t want to choose between angering the public or angering the banks,” she said.

The story was one where she persevered despite the cynical advice she was receiving in Washington. She still hasn’t stopped fighting and has made raising the minimum wage and passing a new student loan bill her top priorities in addition to regulating banks.

“Is Washington going to work for millionaires and billionaires? Or are they going to work for the rest of us?” said Warren.

She attributes Washington’s failure to work for the lower and middle classes to greed. “It’s not something that happened as a force of nature. It’s the rules we make,” said Warren on income inequality.

The crowd stood and applauded when she maintained her position in fighting against such greed. “We shouldn’t let big banks build a profit model based on tricking people,” she said.

During the Q&A session, questions were picked for Senator Warren, which touched upon different subjects such as LGBT rights and women’s rights in the workforce.

On the subject of women looking for leadership roles in the workforce, Warren said, “Don’t wait for someone to invite you because they will not.”  That answer was the result from a question asked by UML student Genesis Peralta.

“It was so surreal,” said Peralta on what it was like to have Senator Warren answer her question. “She’s a great role model for women. It’s totally amazing to see that she’s really fighting for us and equality in America.”

The crowd roared with applause when Senator Warren made it adamantly clear during the Q&A that she supports gay rights and gay marriage. “Equal means equal,” she said.

The air was filled with support for Warren. “I liked when she talked about being a woman leader and being fought against,” said Haley Verre, a young student on a class field trip for the day. “I also agree with her on banking regulations.”

Carol Newhardt, Verre’s friend, had said, “I like when she promised protecting families instead of big banks.”  The crowd was filled with people both young and old, but the youthfulness of the crowd in UML’s new building was high for a politician.

Senator Warren spoke to this audience by driving home the issue of big banks, student loan debt and high minimum wages. “Every kid deserves a fighting chance,” said Warren.