Sen. Angela Alsobrooks teaches leadership in government and politics course
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) teaches students the different ways to be leaders in a University of Maryland spring 2026 semester government and politics course.
“What’s leadership got to do with it” is co-taught by government and politics department Chair Antoine Banks and is held in person once a week. This is the first time that the university has had an active senator teach a course.
“The hope is that the students that we develop here at the University of Maryland will opt to stay here, to live here, to contribute to our communities [and] to eventually serve in leadership in various roles, including elective leadership,” Alsobrooks, the former Prince George’s County executive, told The Black Explosion.
Students hear from guest speakers from all different kinds of fields including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Baltimore Ravens President Sashi Brown, according to students in the course.
Each class starts off with a discussion recapping the last meeting, followed by an opening question from Banks and Alsobrooks. Then the guest speaker comes in person, answering questions from the co-instructors and students.
“It’s been great,” Banks said. He believes that students have had a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from her and her colleagues in the Senate. “I’ve learned so much from [Alsobrooks] about her own leadership perspective and how she manages all the different careers and duties and responsibilities.”
Toluwalase Arowosegbe, a criminology, criminal justice and government and politics double major, said her favorite moment in the class was when the Ravens President came.
“I watch [sports] passively, so I’m not too into it, but the way he used his background in law to show how you can use that to go to any career field was really inspiring to me, because I was thinking about what I would do after law school,” Arowosegbe said.
Another student, Carissa Robinson, said her favorite moment was hearing from Sen. Booker, someone she looks up to.
“It was really cool to be able to have both Senator Alsobrooks and Senator Booker in one room on my college campus,” the senior said.
Arowosegbe said she liked hearing guest senators talk about their decision-making experiences because it “humanizes them.”
“When you just hear about them on TV, they’re seen as so far away political figureheads,” she said. “You can’t touch them, but being able to talk to them in person really made it seem like, ‘Oh, these are just people. You can actually get through to them.’ They’re trying to make a change. They’re not just thinking about themselves and what they want.”
Robinson, a criminology and criminal justice and dance double major, also thinks it’s important to see local leaders in person.
“It’s just cool to be able to see a leader face-to-face,” Robinson said. “We don’t really talk about current issues in this class, but I’m sure if we were to go up to her at the end with an issue, [Alsobrooks] would listen to us and hear us out and just be very attentive to our needs.”
Alsobrooks is delighted with the students she teaches in the class.
“We have really, really smart students. I have been so impressed with how well prepared they are,” Alsobrooks said. “It has been just a sheer joy to come to know the students…they’re also just wonderful, wonderful humans.”
Both Robinson and Arowosegbe hope the class continues in the future.
“It’s been a great success, and we’re happy to offer it again,” Banks said.