By Miharu Sugie and Sara Al Mehairi, News Correspondents

A rally at the Fenway Center last weekend brought a political hopeful and a Hollywood veteran to Northeastern in an effort to encourage students to vote.

U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and actor Zach Braff headlined the event, which was hosted by the Northeastern University College Democrats on Saturday, Oct. 13. Loud cries could be heard from the former church on St. Stephen Street: “Fired up … ready to go” and “We love Lizzie.”

In addressing the crowd, Warren emphasized her hopes for education. The first step she said she can take to support students is to prevent doubling interest rates on student loans. Warren is facing incumbent Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown in what has become a tightly-contested race under the glare of national attention.

Speaking about federal funding, Warren said, “Our priorities are wrong,” adding that, “Instead of that money going to oil companies, we should be investing that money in our kids’ future and supporting our public colleges and universities and helping kids get an education.”

Organizers said they were impressed with the turnout, and pleasantly surprised that Warren chose to come to Northeastern.

“Basically, [Warren’s campaign] contacted us a week before and then we set it up,” Robert Cohen, president of the College Democrats, said. “I would assume [that Warren chose Northeastern] because the interns for Elizabeth Warren have done a really good job at registering voters and getting people active. I think it was a great event. A lot of people I spoke to after the event were really fired up and ready to go out to get people to register and get people out voting for Warren.”

A mix of students and adults visited the rally to support Warren, but they were not without opposition.

While the College Democrats waved signs at street corners, the Northeastern College Republicans appeared across the street from the event with posters in hand. The Democrats formed a wall in front of the Republicans, hiding them with Warren posters.

“We’re here to showcase the conservative voice on campus,” Patrick O’Neil, president of the College Republicans, said. “We just wanted to make a statement that there are conservative college students out there and we care deeply about a lot of issues that are affecting America in a different way.”

Some campaigners were worried that people would attend the rally just to see Braff, but the crowd was filled with Warren devotees.

Freshman Jessica Marengo attended the rally with the hope of becoming more “politically active,” and also to see Braff.

Before Warren and Braff stepped onto the stage, Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley addressed students.

“You are our future leaders, you already are our leaders,” Pressley said. “Every movement in this country, domestically and internationally, was started by young people. We need you.”

The crowd cheered and clapped with added intensity as Warren, who only has 19 days left until Election Day, spoke lovingly of Northeastern University. She briefly explained her vision of America: a place where “everybody pays a fair share, even billionaires, even big oil companies,” so “we can make the investments in our future.”

By investing in education, infrastructure, communication, power and research, Warren said she hopes the government will support working families, small businesses and children to create a “pipeline of ideas” and opportunities for the future.

Braff, known for the movie “Garden State” and popular comedy show “Scrubs,” reinforced Warren’s concerns for students when he spoke.

“So much is on the line” for college students, he said, noting that “extraordinary, ridiculous loans” and a poor job market are formidable burdens.

“What I need you to do, what we hope that you do, is take this excitement and go out into the community … and make sure anyone you know will register [to vote],” Braff said. “You’re now a swing state. No one thought that Massachusetts would be a swing state. But you are, and the entire country is watching.”

The speakers also highlighted their views on women’s and gay rights.

Touching on perceived discrimination in American society, Braff said he believes that, “To say to some of my best friends in my life, guess what, in 2012, you don’t have the same rights as a human being in this country as I do is just mind-blowing to me.”

Like Braff, Warren said she is astonished that there is a need to fight for women’s rights in 2012, but she is “going to Washington to stand up for women.”

In a separate interview after the rally, Braff offered repeated praise for Warren, who is on leave from her job as a professor at Harvard University in Cambridge this campaign season.

“I think she is a genius woman and I loved what she did in Wall Street,” he said. “They call her the sheriff of Wall Street, and I want the sheriff in town.”

Braff traveled from California to endorse Warren at five separate rallies in Boston. He said during his speech the Brown vs. Warren senatorial race is a “fork in the road to which [way] the country will head.”

The Northeastern rally embodied the fervor nationally as candidates make a final push before Election Day on Nov. 6. Though Warren, a local candidate, was central to the event, she also broadened her message to include the presidential election.

“We build a future together,” Warren said. “That’s why it is so important to elect Barack Obama for the presidency. That is also why it’s important he has some good partners in the United States Senate, and [it is] why I’m running for Senate.”