U.S. senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren became the latest politician to visit George Mason University when she held a campaign rally in front of Merten Hall on the Fairfax Campus on Thursday.
A raucous crowd of 1,100 students, activists and community members greeted the Massachusetts Democrat. Previous visitors to Mason from the political sphere have included Vice President Mike Pence, then-First Lady Michelle Obama, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Democratic U.S. senator for Virginia Tim Kaine, Ohio governor and Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich, U.S. Department of Education secretary Betsy DeVos and then-U.S. secretary of state Rex Tillerson, among others.
“It’s really important to the university to have a 2020 presidential candidate here,” said rising senior Kara Kline. Kline, a government and international politics major from Charlottesville, Virginia, who helped introduce Warren, is the president of the George Mason Democrats. “It’s amazing. It’s the reason why I picked George Mason—because it’s close to D.C., and you do have so many opportunities. We’re really in the perfect spot.”
Warren, who was preceded on the stage by Virginia House of Delegates members Hala Ayala and John Bell, drew loud support for her proposal to levy a wealth tax in an effort to eradicate most student loan debt. She also promised better health care to military veterans by improving Veterans Affairs services.
Warren, who will turn 70 next month, stayed and took photos with each of several hundred supporters who waited after the conclusion of her speech.
Photos by Lathan Goumas.