The Obama campaign was forced to scramble after the University of Virginia rejected a request to hold a rally on campus next week. The university cited the cost of security and the disruption that a presidential visit would cause on the second day of the academic year, including the closure of many buildings.

In another hiccup, the campaign late on Friday cancelled Vice President Joe Biden’s plans to visit Tampa, Fla., next week, which is hosting the Republican National Convention. The campaign cited concerns connected to a looming hurricane.

Sending Mr. Biden to Tampa had been seen as a particularly aggressive attempt to insert the Obama campaign’s message into media stories coming from the GOP convention.

Responding to the University of Virginia decision, the Obama campaign said it would hold an Obama event at the nearby Charlottesville Pavilion, instead of on campus...

The trip to Charlottesville will be the third stop on a two-day college tour by Mr. Obama next week aimed at ginning up excitement among young people in Iowa, Colorado and Virginia, three battleground states.

The University of Virginia said it could not accommodate the campaign’s request, according to a statement.

The statement said that the campaign had requested use of either of two venues. One would require closure of four or five buildings for the day, which would mean canceling 186 classes. Use of the other would require closing libraries, a dining site and other buildings.

In addition, the statement said that the university would have to pay security costs, which it called “a substantial and open-ended expenditure of staff time and money”...

The college tour is part of the Obama campaign’s “counterprogramming” during the Republican National Convention. Another key piece of that plan was also disrupted Friday, as the campaign decided to cancel Mr. Biden’s Tampa visit. The campaign cited “disaster preparedness and local security concerns” as the region prepares for a major storm.

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