Graham Parsons, a philosophy professor at West Point for the past 13 years, has decided to take his ball and go home. Why? Because he doesn’t like the fact that the United States Military Academy—let me repeat, the military academy—is taking steps to ensure its curriculum isn’t overrun with left-wing academic groupthink.
Parsons, in what reads more like a temper tantrum than a resignation letter, dropped a New York Times op-ed explaining that the school has, in his words, “abandoned its core principles.” Oh no—how dare a military institution teach future officers how to think critically without being spoon-fed academic activism masquerading as scholarship? According to Parsons, West Point has “suddenly” started eliminating courses, altering syllabi, and gasp removing arguments that don’t align with the ideological preferences of the Trump administration. Translation: it’s not a progressive playground anymore and that’s just too much for poor Professor Parsons to handle.
Enter Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wasted no time in stating what many were already thinking. “You will not be missed Professor Parsons,” he posted online. Short, sharp, and absolutely correct. Because here’s the thing: if your idea of “nonpartisan” education is to pump cadets full of left-wing critiques and social justice theory, then no, you don’t belong at West Point. That’s not education—that’s indoctrination in fatigues.
Let’s not forget what this is really about. President Trump, during his administration, pushed for an executive order that aimed to keep divisive, radical ideology out of military classrooms. Radical academics cried foul, but millions of Americans, especially those who value tradition, patriotism, and common sense, applauded it. It was about keeping the military focused on, you know, military stuff. Strategy. Discipline. Leadership. Not deconstructing America’s founding under the guise of intersectional postmodernism.
Parsons whines about “a sweeping assault on the school’s curriculum and the faculty members’ research.” But maybe, just maybe, West Point realized that some of that research had less to do with forming capable Army leaders and more to do with academic navel-gazing and political posturing. The military isn’t obligated to give a platform to every radical interpretation of justice or oppression theory that wanders in from the latest liberal arts conference. It’s a war college—not a safe space.
And let’s address the irony here: Parsons claims to care about critical thinking but throws a fit when the curriculum reflects a different point of view than his own. That’s not intellectual integrity; that’s just academic narcissism. His farewell tour is less about principle and more about performance. This isn’t a resignation—it’s a political statement. One that will get him a few rounds on MSNBC and maybe a book deal with a predictably overwrought title like Waging Thought War: My Battle Against Trump’s Military Mind Control.
All the resignation of West Point philosophy professor Graham Parsons demonstrates is … leftist educators are upset that their brainwashing and gaslighting efforts aren’t working.
In my opinion … more of this needs to happen across this country. Our schools have been held… pic.twitter.com/GLqNn5LOZA
— C-Reason🇺🇸 (@CreasonJana) May 9, 2025
Meanwhile, cadets at West Point will go on learning to lead, to serve, and to defend the Constitution—which, last time I checked, is a lot more important than whether Professor Parsons gets to assign Michel Foucault in his ethics class. Let’s be honest: if these future officers are being trained to win wars and save lives, the last thing they need is to be bogged down in ideological soapboxing from faculty members who think “systemic deconstruction” is more urgent than battlefield decision-making.
So good riddance, Professor. The academy will be just fine without you. In fact, it might even be better off.
