Expect or actually what they said was “intend” is the key word here. That is not the same as “will” be on campus. Also I noticed other hedging in the letter when referring to MA government guidelines…
I read it as they are planning, e.g. spending the money needed, to be ready for students on campus this Aug/Sept.
There is no perfect, risk free solution to this situation. As others have noted, the risk to college students of a bad outcome from covid infection (hospitalization or death) is incredibly low (much lower than the risk of a college student dying from a car accident, to put it in perspective). Boston College and many other top residential universities cannot continue online learning and await a vaccine or curative treatment which may never come. The value of the education is seriously diminished and the financial hit from reduced enrollment and revenue will put many colleges out of business. Of course, BC students interact with older professors and community members who may be more vulnerable. The vulnerable group needs to be isolated to reduce their risk . This is a risk benefit analysis that is a feature of government policy making.
On the question of “who is vulnerable” a risk profile already exists which should guide public policy and institutional decisions, including how Boston College opens in the fall. There will always be outliers but the goal should be to manage the risk. Some reliable data about fatalities from covid is important. By way of example, the Massachusetts Board of Health reports that of the covid fatalities in that state, the average age is 82. About 64 % were over 80 years old, 86 % over 70 yrs old and 95 % over 50 yrs old. No one under 20 in Massachusetts has died from covid. 7 people under 30 have died and 18 others under 40 have died (out of 28,000 confirmed infections in the under 40 demographic). There are close to 8 million people in Massachusetts. In Pennsylvania, 65% of the covid fatalities were nursing home residents, mostly in their 80s and 90s. The point is the public health policy relating to reopening colleges in the fall has to make a realistic risk assessment, and should be focused on protecting the vulnerable population (especially those over 65 and definitely those over 80). Those people will need to isolate whether students are on campus or not. However, we cannot keep colleges closed/reduced to online learning until the virus is eradicated ( and that was never the stated goal of the shelter in place orders). The reality is we as a society will need to live with the covid-19 virus for many months or even years. I hope and expect Boston College and other top schools will develop a plan to manage risk while providing the quality experience which students expect and deserve.
A mid-October start would practically ensure a shut-down/go home. (Viruses do better in closed indoor spaces.) That is why some colleges are starting earlier in August to finish by Thanksgiving.
I’ll stick with optimism 
I thought someone would post already. NBCBoston.com had a May 20th News Story, BC plans to reopen in the fall. Sorry I don’t know how to clip and add the video here.
I can’t remember if this has been discussed, but I’m wondering about the safety and logistics surrounding bringing students back to live at BC. I know that, for example, Boston College does not have enough housing currently for 4 years and many students are awarded only 3 years of housing. Many freshman are put in forced triples. I know some have mentioned several places that it would be safest to put students in single rooms when they return in the fall, but how can campuses, like BC, that are “overcrowded” living space wise handle this?
No college or university has thousands of extra, unused dorm rooms set aside so that every student can live in a single. Again, there is no perfect, risk free solution. College students live close to one another, both on and off campus. As a society, we will need to learn how to manage the relative risks associated with this virus, since we will be living with the virus for a long time. Testing, tracing and isolation will help mitigate the risk and protect nursing home residents, the elderly and other vulnerable people. This should be the focus of planning for the return to campus in the fall.
I heard that Notre Dame will start in early August, and be done with finals before Thanksgiving. It appears that the idea is to get a semester in before cold & flu season starts. Smart! The traditional timeline of send the students home for Thanksgiving, then bring 'em all back for 4 weeks seems tailor made to spread a virus.
The schools should test all the students coming in, test them before they go home at the end of the semester, and test them when they come back for Spring semester.
Also, getting the Fall semester done early gives everyone a nice long break over the holidays to reassess the Covid situation.
This virus is going to be around for awhile. We are going to have to learn to live with it.