What does one wear to the memorial of a killing?

Music professor Stephanie Arado, asked by University of Minnesota administrators to perform at a streamed community event for alum Alex Pretti, two days after he was killed on Jan. 24 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, decided on a long black tunic.

The music Arado would perform and how she would present herself would be important. She was volunteering, without pay, to provide a service as a faculty member.

Administrators told her to find a fitting music piece under three minutes, so her choice was a beautiful unaccompanied work by Eugène Ysaÿe, called “Malinconia.” Affixed to the front of her garment were five words in small lettering: “The evil must end now.” On her back, she put “ICE OUT,” — knowing it was there for people to see, but not visible when she played for the live stream. 

Arado said she was given absolutely no guidelines as to repertoire content or dress. The University did not respond to multiple requests for comment on event guidelines.

Arado carpooled with her colleague to Northrop, where the event would be streamed. Around ten minutes before her performance was due to start, she said she was approached by a dark-suited woman.

“We have a problem,” the woman said. “You need to take that off, or we won’t allow you to play. This is intended to be a solemn occasion.”

Arado said she was taken aback, thinking nothing she was wearing distracted from the occasion’s solemnity. 

“No, it’s not. It’s not possible,” the woman said, according to Arado. “You know we’re not taking sides here.”

Arado said she told the administrator she was not going to play under these circumstances and began to pack up her instrument. She said she went to wait in the hallway as her colleague elected to perform in her stead.

“It was very upsetting to me, of course, because this meant a lot to me,” Arado said regarding the vigil. “I was upset. And I said, ‘but you know what? I’m glad that you made it clear to me, and I’m leaving, and I’m out of here.’”

Arado said she was waiting in the hallway with her instruments when two armed police officers came to escort her out of the building.

“I’m a professor here,” Arado said to the officers. “I’m not a stranger here. And I was invited to this event.”

Arado said the officers were told by organizers to make her leave the building right away. She said despite carpooling with a performer and lugging around a valuable instrument, the officers insisted she go out and find another building to stand in.

“I had to leave Northrop altogether because the organizers decided I was a guest, not welcome anymore, and some kind of a threat,” Arado said. “I don’t know. It was pretty, it was a very, very upsetting afternoon for me.”

Arado said she was set to discuss the event with Executive Vice President of Finance and Operations Gregg Goldman later that evening, but her calls went to voicemail. 

As of publishing, Arado has not confirmed with the Daily whether the administration has reached out to her since.

University communications said in an email to the Daily that the UMN community gathering event was intended to be a space for community unity, not a venue for political activism. The University did not respond to requests for comment regarding the officers involved.

Arado said she was incredibly disappointed by the whole situation.

“Given the nature of how Alex died and the situation that our community is in, that they would be so afraid to allow for that kind of authenticity is incredibly disappointing to me,” Arado said.

The First Amendment, academic freedom and creative expression

Academic freedom, the freedom of teachers and students to teach, study, and pursue knowledge and research without unreasonable interference, is a professional norm for Universities codified by the American Association of University Professors, a national academic association.

Academic freedom has been recognized as a constitutional right by courts across the country, and even the University takes AAUP principles into account during faculty senate and Board of Regents meetings. Academic freedom also extends to creative expression.

University speech and academic freedom have been the subject of scrutiny and debate following protests and encampments surrounding the war in Gaza. The Board of Regents passed a 2025 resolution allowing the president to limit institutional speech on matters of public concern, which led to faculty pushback.

Jane Kirtley, the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University, said to determine whether this is a freedom of expression issue, one has to look at whether there were clear guidelines for the event. She added the University has the authority to set parameters for planned events, although it gets complicated when creative expression is included.

“Did the administrators who put this program together fully communicate to those that were participating in the event what was expected of them, in terms of content as well as attire, or did they basically just leave it up to them?” Kirtley said. “The question is, ‘what were you invited to do?’”

Kirtley said she still believed there was a huge overreaction and failure of communication by the University. She added based on Arado’s reaction, the police should not have been involved.

What other Professors are saying

Michael Gallope, the College of Liberal Arts assembly chair and professor in the department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, said academic freedom policy covers all forms of creative expression and that faculty artists should not be censored if their work is considered too controversial.

Gallope emphasized that AAUP guidelines are clear in stating how creative expression is not representative of the institution that hosts it. He added this must be assumed as a professional principle, for faculty artists to do their work with true freedom of the imagination.

“If President Cunningham is going to ask a professor to present work at a memorial event like this, she is under an obligation to respect that artist’s freedom of creative expression,” Gallope said. “To ask a faculty artist to edit their work as a condition for its exhibition is a violation of their academic freedom.”

Geography professor Kate Derickson said she found it incredibly troubling no University speakers acknowledged how and by whom Pretti was killed. She added not acknowledging the reason for the event is not neutrality, but capitulation.

“The speech expressed on (Arado’s) shirt was a demand that the agency that not only killed our former student –– but shot him nine additional times in a display of viciousness that shocks the conscience — leave the state,” Derickson said. “To disallow a faculty member from expressing their solidarity with the murdered man at his own memorial service is not ‘neutrality,’ it is complicity.”

Gallope said the handling of this event showed the staggering moral cost of neutrality.

“As a University, we can’t even defend the basic principles of human rights for Minnesotans,” Gallope said. “It’s terrifying.”

Derickson said not allowing University members to arrive at independent truths is effectively allowing certain narratives to dominate popular dialogue. 

“If we relinquish the ability to speak the truths that emerge from our research, observation and analysis in order to preserve ‘neutrality,’ we are undermining our mission, compromising our value proposition, and staking out a position whether we want to or not,” Derickson said.