Ithaca College cancels return of students to campus for fall semester

ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College on Tuesday told its students that it will be scrapping its plan to have students return to campus this fall and will instead be extending remote instruction through the semester.

“This means that we will not be welcoming all students back to campus this fall as we had hoped,” Ithaca College President Shirley Collado said in a statement posted on the school’s website.

The college had shifted to remote learning in March at the start of the pandemic shutdown. Ithaca later announced in May its intention to have students return for on-campus instruction on Oct. 5.

Under the newly revised plan, classes at Ithaca College will begin Sept. 8 and conclude Dec. 14. In between, Thanksgiving break is scheduled Nov. 25 through Nov. 27, per a schedule posted at the school’s website.

Collado called it an “agonizing” decision made in consultation with the members of Ithaca’s senior leadership team, “informed by the best thinking of so many members of our college community and data around the evolution of this pandemic.”

She went on to say that the reality of COVID-19 is “deeply concerning,” noting 5.4 million infections in the U.S. and more than 170,000 deaths. Even though the Ithaca area has a “low prevalence of infections,” the school has learned from watching other communities “how delicate this equilibrium is, and how quickly it can be disrupted,” Collado wrote.

She also noted the “on-campus experience” this fall would be “very different” from what Ithaca would want students to have.

“But I sincerely believe this is the correct and responsible choice for Ithaca College to help protect the health and safety of our students, their families, our faculty and staff, and our Ithaca–area communities,” said Collado.

Ithaca College officials “fully intend” to bring all students back to campus for the spring semester, “as long as circumstances around COVID shift to enable us to do so in a reasonably safe manner,” Collado wrote.

Students whose programs require hands-on experience for licensure or accreditation (such as those in certain health professions) will be permitted to attend some instruction on campus, per Collado’s message.