Freshman U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks has been named to the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, a site of culture-war battles this year under the Trump administration.
Alsobrooks, a Democrat, was appointed by the Senate Committee on Armed Services and will join Democratic colleagues from the Maryland congressional delegation, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Sarah Elfreth on the advisory panel, which oversees academic programs and student life.
“The United States Naval Academy is one of our nation’s most storied institutions,” Alsobrooks said in a news release. “Maryland is proud to be home to this world-class military service academy. It is my absolute honor to be appointed to its board of visitors.”
The board’s responsibilities include overseeing morale, discipline, the academy’s curriculum, physical equipment and fiscal affairs, among other general oversight of the academy.
Each year the board drafts a written report sharing its findings and recommendations to the president.
“The Midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy serve our country with courage, integrity, and distinction,” Alsobrooks said. “Each year, young patriots step onto the Yard with one goal: protect and defend our nation.”
Board members include presidential, vice presidential and congressional appointees and feature a combination of lawmakers and military personnel.
In February, Predent Donald Trump sacked the boards of visitors for all of the United States service academies, including the Naval Academy, referencing “Woke Leftist Ideologues” that must be removed in order to make the military “great again.”
Amid rising tensions at the Naval Academy under the Trump administration and an onslaught of DEI-removals, the board — and its members from Maryland — have been central in culture-war battles. Van Hollen, in May, urged the board to replace the 381 books removed from its Nimitz Library amid a Trump administration crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion education.
While Van Hollen temporarily suspended his motion after resistance from the board’s Republican members, most of the books were taken back out of the library closet, where they were held under lock and key, and placed back in circulation.
“We have an obligation to do more than just thank our Midshipmen – and all our service members and veterans – for their service,” Alsobrooks said. “It is my duty – and my privilege – to fight for them in Congress, for their benefits, and for their protection. I look forward to furthering that mission in this role on the Naval Academy Board of Visitors.”
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