Obama Bumps NYT Editor as Barnard Commencement Speaker

The White House announced over the weekend that President Obama will give this year's commencement address at Barnard College, an all-women's undergraduate school in New York City that is affiliated with Columbia University, the president's alma mater.

The news is noteworthy for a pair of reasons. The first is the announcement comes amid a growing partisan fight over contraception coverage in the new health care law, and the speech will give the president an opportunity to continue to reach out to female voters ahead of November's election.

The second is who Obama is bumping from the podium: Jill Abramson, who became the first female executive editor of the New York Times in September. Abramson had been slated to give the commencement speech but she now appears to have been dropped from the schedule altogether. A statement issued by Barnard, however, notes, that Abramson has taken the news in stride and "is happy to speak at Barnard at a later date."

Obama will also speak at the Joplin High School graduation ceremony, ABC news reports. Joplin, Mo., is still recovering from a devastating tornado last year that killed 160 people.