As many college presidents decide whether students will return to campus in the fall, Ithaca College announced its start date.

“Ithaca College has selected a date,” said Shirley Collado, the Ithaca College President. “Monday, October 5th to reopen our campus again officially and start a new academic year.”

The president of Ithaca College revealed the big news Monday. Students can return to class about a month later than usual, giving families and faculty time to develop plans.

“It will allow our faculty and staff to fully prepare to deliver the strongest educational experience while still allowing us to protect public health and in our local community,” said Collado.

“We are hopeful that we will have a testing regime and therapeutics that are ready by October,” said Svante Myrick, the Ithaca mayor. “So, we can welcome all those students back safely.”

Myrick says he doesn’t want the city to become a coronavirus hotbed. He says reopening safely will lead to a healthy community and economy.

“Being without those students on campus has been devastating for our economy,” said Myrick. “We only have about two months of data without the students, but we believe the shutdown will likely put us in a $15 million deficit. That deficit is five times the size of the largest the city has ever seen, and that one was created by the Great Recession.”

It’s a loss that many local businesses are feeling, like Collegetown Bagels and Ithaca Bakery.

“They are the main source of income in all of Ithaca,” said Gregar Brous, the Ithaca Bakery and Collegetown Bagels co-owner. “I’ve got six different locations and every single one of them has college students both as customers and staff."

Brous says they lost about 20% of business so far. Now, they’re looking forward to the students’ arrival.

“We pivot all the time; momentarily, hourly, daily,” said Brous. “We have to make adjustments. We have to understand what the parameters are.”

Myrick says local leaders and the police department are forming protocols are well.

“If the last two months have shown us anything, it’s that we’re incredibly resilient, we’re very flexible, we’re very resourceful,” said Myrick.

Cornell University has yet to announce if students will return to campus in the fall.