Fordham University senior, 22, dies after she fell from campus bell tower

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A Fordham University student who climbed the campus' landmark bell tower Sunday to snap photos of the New York City skyline has died after she accidentally fell

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Sydney Monfries, a 22-year-old senior, was taking part in a 3 a.m. climb when she fell through an opening on the first landing of the tower, plummeted 40 feet and struck her head, the New York Post reported. Her condition had been listed as critical at a hospital in the Bronx not far from the Fordham campus, but on Sunday evening, the university's president announced her death in an email to students.

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"Our hearts go out to Sydney’s parents, and her family and friends—theirs is an unimaginable loss, and we share their grief," Rev. Joseph M. McShane wrote. "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."

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Students said climbing the tower, touching the bell and taking photos of the sweeping views were part of a senior-year “rite of passage,”

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Last October, a new study by researchers in India found that more than 250 people worldwide have died while taking selfies in the last six years

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