New York College Student Dies After Falling From An Off-Limits Campus Bell Tower

A 22-year-old Fordham University student on Sunday died after falling 40 feet from a campus clock tower.

Sydney Monfries, a senior studying journalism and a native of Portland, suffered head and neck injuries and later died after being taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in the New York borough of the Bronx.

Monfries’ Facebook page states she was a photo editor intern at InStyle, a former PR intern at Creative Media Marketing and a former news intern at KGW, an NBC affiliate in Portland.

"There are no words sufficient to describe the loss of someone so young and full of promise—and mere weeks from graduation," University President Joseph M. McShane said.

Monfries and her friends had climbed the school's iconic Keating Hall clock tower at 3:00 a.m. to get a better look at the New York skyline and snap pictures.

According to the school's newspaper, the Observer, it has become a rite of passage for Fordham students to climb the gothic tower and snap pictures prior to graduation.

"I heard they were just getting a better view of the city," a senior told the New York Post. "I think they were posting on Instagram when it happened."

Officials are investigating how the students gained access to the tower. A school spokesman said that the tower is always locked.

There have been no reports of anyone falling from the tower, according to CBS New York.

Fordham said Monfries would receive her degree posthumously.