A tragedy took place at Fordham University this past weekend, when a 22-year-old student plunged to her death after climbing the University clock tower.
The incident occurred at roughly 3 a.m. when Sydney Monfries was climbing the tower at Keating Hall with other students, as they were reportedly trying to snap photos of the New York City skyline. While climbing the set of stairs, Monfries was said to have fallen nearly 40 feet through an opening in the 83-year-old structure's first landing.
Though the trek to the top of the locked tower at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus is forbidden, it’s become a rite of passage for students who sneak into the off-limits property after dark, as previously described in the school’s newspaper.
Meanwhile, videos posted to her SnapChat indicate that Monfries made it to the top of the tower, while other clips reportedly show Monfries and her friends struggling through the darkness and using their phones as flashlights.
Monfries was then found unconscious inside the tower at 3:17 a.m. local time with a low pulse and trauma to her head, where she was then transported to St. Barnabas Hospital and later passed away.
The student had majored in Journalism and was only weeks away from her graduation, while the University's President said there were "no words sufficient to describe the loss of someone so young and full of promise."
Source: People
