Fordham Student Dies After Fall From Campus Clock Tower

THE BRONX, NY — A Fordham University student died Sunday after falling from a clock tower on the school's Bronx campus, the university said.

Sydney Monfries, a senior at Fordham College at Rose Hill, died Sunday evening after she fell about 30 feet inside the Keating Clock tower at about 3 a.m. that morning, the university said.

"Our hearts go out to Sydney’s parents, and her family and friends — theirs is an unimaginable loss, and we share their grief," Fr. Joseph M. McShane, the university's president, said in a statement.

Monfries's death came just a few weeks before Fordham's graduation ceremonies. The school will give her a posthumous bachelor's degree, McShane said. The school also reportedly scheduled a mass in her honor on Sunday evening.

Climbing the Bronx campus' iconic clock tower to take photos is considered "a rite of passage" for graduating seniors, according to The Observer, Fordham's student newspaper. Monfries was making the climb with friends, the paper reported.

The university said it is still investigating how the students got into the tower, as the door to it is always locked. The students who were with Monfries in the building will not face disciplinary action, a Fordham spokeswoman said Monday evening.

There has never been another fall in or from the tower, the school said.