Dear Bombers,
Thank you for your patience as we continue to work out all of the details required to ensure a safe return to play for our student-athletes, coaches and staff. I would like to provide an update on the process. While we are still waiting for New York State guidelines and working with our Liberty League colleagues to develop competition guidelines, I am happy to share that we have made progress in our planning.
As I said in my message to you on May 18, our primary concern is the health, safety and well-being of not only our student-athletes, coaches and staff, but also the entire Ithaca College community.
The decision to return to play is a complex proposition. Every college in the country is tasked with determining a plan that not only meets its' needs, but aligns with guidance from multiple governing bodies as well as local health departments. The ability to test and execute contact tracing is a requirement and capacity is being understood for each town and city in which a college resides. While we can determine a plan for each campus, the next part of the equation is travel to other campuses, which for the most part want to remain "closed" to or drastically restrict visitors. There are multiple considerations for the implementation of competition in the current circumstances.
Here is what I can share:
1. I am serving in a leadership role on Ithaca College's Return to Campus Task Force. Many members of our staff are deeply involved, along with every head coach serving on an implementation sub-committee.
2. Our team physician, Dr. Andrew Getzin, and our Head Athletic Trainer, Mike Matheny, have created a comprehensive plan that adheres to the phasing in of athletics participation as specified by the NCAA and other governing bodies.
3. Liberty League Directors of Athletics have been meeting multiple times per week for the last seven weeks. We are working collaboratively and intensively to develop a plan for Return to Play for our conference.
4. Liberty League Head Athletic Trainers are meeting along with campus health directors.
5. The Presidents of the Liberty League have met twice. The Directors of Athletics of the league are developing procedures for hosting athletics competitions.
6. The Liberty League is working in lock-step to re-engage athletics. Member institutions are working together and expect to achieve a consensus on how to proceed with Liberty League competition, which will likely include a common start date for fall seasons.
Bombers, we will have high expectations of you, as always. You always respond to the challenge. When we return to campus, you, indeed all of us, will have tremendous responsibility to each other to comply with safe practices and new social norms that will allow us to mitigate risk while living with Covid-19.
I expect to know more soon, but for now, I want to assure you that across the country, Division III schools are in similar circumstances with the planning process.  The Oct. 5 date for in-person instruction has not put us behind our Liberty League opponents. As the situation has evolved, the later start, provides critical planning time that I am confident will be to our benefit.
We know, that the coming seasons will not be the same as past seasons. We are working as fast as we can in an environment that is changing rapidly, but our goal is to provide as competitive a student-athlete experience as possible.
We are planning a student-athlete virtual meeting in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please be assured that I will keep you informed to the best of my ability.
I will be in touch when we have more details.
Stay safe and be well.
Susan Bassett '79
Associate Vice President of Student Affairs
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports
