As pro-Palestinian protests intensify on college campuses across the nation, the Biden administration is adjusting its traditional springtime engagement with higher education institutions.

This year, President Biden and Vice President Harris have planned for a limited presence delivering commencement addresses, a ritual that marks the culmination of academic achievement for graduating students.

Mr. Biden is on the roster for addresses at Morehouse College and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in May. Meanwhile, Ms. Harris will appear only at the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony. And the first lady, Jill Biden, is “expected to engage with graduates through a commencement speech at an undisclosed institution,” NBC News reports.

The schedule mirrors the administration’s pattern over the past two years and contrasts sharply with the busy schedule of commencement addresses given by President Obama and Mr. Biden during the 2012 re-election campaign. That year, they appeared at several educational institutions, including service academies and high schools in key electoral states.

Officials within the White House have refrained from commenting on how the current protests might shape the content of Mr. Biden’s commencement speeches.

The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, emphasized that the president views these addresses as an opportunity to convey a message of encouragement and hope to the graduates and their families, recognizing the broader societal challenges facing the nation.

John Della Volpe, the Director of Polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, told NBC News the commencement ceremonies could offer a unique platform for the president.

“That’s an important opportunity to try to bridge these divides, perhaps like only Biden can do. Because there are divides on this issue,” he said. “One of the first things that a young person tells me is that they don’t feel understood.”