Some soon-to-be University of Notre Dame graduates will mark President Obama's attendance at their graduation next Sunday by skipping the ceremony to lead a protest across campus. The local bishop says he won't even show up to share the stage with a man who supports abortion rights.

Obama's first pass at the annual springtime rite for presidents — delivering commencement addresses — has caused controversy at two of the three schools the White House selected from dozens of invitations.

At Arizona State University, where Obama speaks Wednesday, officials have been scrambling for weeks to explain why they won't give the president an honorary degree, a routine gesture at many universities for those invited to speak on graduation day.

The biggest controversy, though, is at Notre Dame, the Roman Catholic university in South Bend, Ind., where President John Jenkins says he is "delighted" Obama is coming, but the local bishop says the invitation has caused a breach with the church.

Bishop John D'Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese is one of 60 bishops who have expressed opposition to Obama's selection.

The Cardinal Newman Society, a conservative watchdog organization that monitors Catholic universities, is also against the decision.

"The outrage over this is not a referendum on Barack Obama," said group President Patrick Reilly, who has delivered 353,000 online petition signatures to Notre Dame opposing Obama's selection. "The outrage is targeted at Notre Dame for betraying its Catholic mission."

Obama will also speak at the Naval Academy commencement on May 22.

Notre Dame has hosted former President George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and others who supported the death penalty and took other positions at odds with the church, but abortion is viewed as an "intrinsic evil" by the church and trying to weigh it against other issues is "inappropriate," Reilly said.

In Tempe, Ariz., meanwhile, Arizona State University officials have provided conflicting explanations about why Obama will not receive an honorary degree.

Spokeswoman Sharon Keeler initially said Obama hadn't established enough of a "body of work" to warrant a degree.

But ASU President Michael Crow said the school has had a policy since 2003 not to give honorary degrees to donors and sitting politicians.