Sydney Paige Monfries, a 22-year-old woman from Portland, Oregon, has been identified as the Fordham University student who tragically passed away on Sunday, April 14, following a fall from a campus clock tower.
According to reports from Fordham University, Monfries — a journalism student who was set to graduate this May — fell approximately 40 feet out the Keating Hall clock tower as her and her friends were attempting to take pictures around 3 a.m. on Sunday, April 14.
Following her fall, Monfries was taken to nearby St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx where she was later pronounced dead.
However, Fordham University officials said that the Keating Hall tower is off-limits to students and is supposed to be locked.
Fordham University confirmed Monfries’ passing in a statement, with Fordham University President Joseph McShane saying that there are “no words sufficient to describe the loss of someone so young and full of promise.”
“It is with great sadness that I report that Sydney Monfries, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, died today after sustaining a fall inside the Keating Clock tower in the early hours of the morning,” President McShane’s statement begins.
“Our hearts go out to Sydney’s parents, and her family and friends—theirs is an unimaginable loss, and we share their grief. There are no words sufficient to describe the loss of someone so young and full of promise — and mere weeks from graduation. Fordham will confer a bachelor’s degree upon Sydney posthumously, which we will present to her parents at the appropriate time,” McShane continued.
In their statement, Fordham University also confirmed that they would be giving Monfries a posthumous degree that will be given to her parents.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends, family, and various loved ones of Sydney Paige Monfries during this extremely difficult and trying time.
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