THE BRONX, N.Y. — A student at Fordham University in New York died Sunday just a few hours after falling three stories from the campus clock tower, according to news reports.
Senior Sydney Monfries, 22, was getting ready to graduate in a few weeks when she and other students decided to sneak up to the top of the bell tower at Keating Hall at the university's Bronx campus early Sunday morning, The New York Times reported.
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Monfries somehow fell through an opening in a landing and plunged 30 feet down the inside of the tower. She was critically hurt, with injuries to her head and body, police said.
She was rushed to a nearby hospital but died several hours later.
A #PDX native & Fordham University college student has died after NYC police confirm she fell from a bell tower on campus.
— Maggie Vespa KGW (@Maggie_Vespa) April 15, 2019
Administrators confirm Sydney Monfries graduated from @JesuitHighPDX in 2015. In 2016, she interned at @KGWNews. Our hearts go out to her family. pic.twitter.com/TWLXAuL5Cy
Sydney Paige Monfries identified as Fordham University student who fell from bell tower https://t.co/njdgdzqkYA pic.twitter.com/n5KXWs9UFl
— New York Post (@nypost) April 14, 2019
Although Keating Hall is locked and closed at night and access to the tower is restricted at all times, students still manage to find a way in to climb to the top of the Gothic tower to see the skyline, school administrators said. Students told the Times that climbing the tower is a "storied rite of passage."
BREAKING: Fordham university student Sydney Monfries, 22, dies after fall from school's iconic clock tower, university president says.
— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) April 14, 2019
Officials are investigating how the student gained access to the tower, which is normally locked. - WNBC pic.twitter.com/8p9ykvQshU
The building is 83 years old and houses administrative offices and classrooms. Its distinctive Gothic-style architecture is one of the features of the Jesuit university.
Monfries was from Portland, Oregon, and was studying journalism. School officials said they plan on awarding her a posthumous bachelor’s degree.
Fordham student Sydney Monfries dies from injuries after falling from campus tower https://t.co/5rjGjlKMZy pic.twitter.com/mwWgicsCy8
— New York Post (@nypost) April 14, 2019
.@FordhamNYC fact sheet on Keating Tower after death of student Sydney Monfries. pic.twitter.com/zstFIpTWdq
— Tony Aiello (@AielloTV) April 15, 2019
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