University of Virginia’s president is urging students and faculty to stay away from an upcoming Ku Klux Klan rally in the city.

Local news media outlets report that University President Teresa Sullivan urged community members in an email to “avoid the rally and avoid confrontation” when the North Carolina-based Loyal White Knights come to Charlottesville on July 8 to protest the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

Sullivan says the university community condemns the group’s “detestable beliefs,” but also understands its right to free speech.