President Donald Trump is coming to West Point this weekend amid criticism over his executive orders that some say will erase diversity and important history at the academy.

Ahead of President Trump's visit to the academy's graduation, tenured philosophy professor Graham Parsons announced in a New York Times op-ed he is resigning.

"I did the right thing," Parsons said in a Zoom interview Thursday afternoon. "It was hard, but once I did it, it felt great."

He said West Point leaders are making professors cut lessons and books from their syllabuses having to do with Black history, women's issues and gender ideology.

The academy has made sweeping changes since February when President Trump signed executive orders limiting — and in some case banning — those areas of study.

The Department of Defense has also ordered the academies to teach that the United States and its founding documents are "the most powerful force for good in human history," and not to elevate any notions that the documents are racist or sexist.

Parsons also said supervisors have told him he will not receive funding for research of certain theories and concepts that were deemed "divisive concepts" or "scapegoating" in a January executive order.

"These were brazen demands to indoctrinate, not educate," Parsons wrote in the op-ed.

"The administration is telling us what's true and false, and demanding that they say that to their students," Parsons said. "No matter what political persuasion you are, we should all be concerned about that."

West Point has also determined that all diversity clubs, boards meant to foster diversity, and a Black history research project must be eliminated, in order to fully comply with the president's orders.

Parsons has been waiting for high-level lawmakers to speak out on the issue.

"The military in general is terrified of bad press," he said, noting that no local politicians have contacted him since his op-ed began making the rounds, "so any kind of political pressure has an impact."

Rep. Pat Ryan — a West Point graduate who represents the mid-Hudson region — said in an email he has "no shortage of disagreements with the president, including his dangerous politicization of our military ... I will continue to make my point of view very clear."

Ryan will also attend graduation this Saturday.

Protesters, who announced they will be outside the academy's front gate and later on the Hudson River in kayaks, are condemning the president for "the president's attack on the constitution and democracy."

Protest organizer Peter Bynum of the Well Informed Citizens Alliance said the group will be protesting several recent moves by President Trump's administration, including deportations without prior due process for offenders as well as changes at the academy.

Bynum believes the ongoing elimination of organizations and projects meant to attract a more diverse pool of cadet candidates will have a long-term effect that will be hard to reverse.

"It's diametrically opposed to US military doctrine for the last 30 years," he said. "America's been trying to build a military that looks like America. This appears to be an attempt by the administration to change that."

West Point officials have not responded to messages from News 12 inquiring whether academy leaders will speak with the president about the orders during Saturday's visit.

Professor Parsons said that because West Point interpreted orders from the President and Department of Defense so broadly, many professors are now prohibited from bringing up certain issues that help teach cadets to think critically.

He offered an example.

"We talk about race. What is it? If it's not biology, what are we talking about here? Should you care about it? Should you take your racial identity seriously or not?," he said. "When you study these issues through a philosophical lens you get a really deep and rich understanding of the issues. Contrary to critics, there's no expectation that students come to one conclusion."