A 20-year-old college student died after falling off a cliff in Arkansas while attempting to pose for a photo with some friends on Saturday.
Briar Cliff University junior Andrea Norton was fatally injured on Saturday when she fell from a rock formation near Jasper. The woman was with a group of college students and was reportedly repositioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off the Hawksbill Crag, a popular hiking destination.
Briar Cliff University said Norton was a dedicated student and a member of the volleyball team.
“We are saddened by the unexpected passing of our beloved teammate Andrea Norton,” the school said on social media. “#22 on the court, #1 in our hearts. Thank you for the prayers, calls, texts and emails. As Dre would say: Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.”
READ MORE: Student dies after falling from university bell tower during ‘rite of passage’
Norton was remembered at a school memorial as being “a passionate environmental science major, exemplary student and dedicated athlete.”
“She lived BCU’s values in everything she did from the classroom to the court and everywhere she went,” the school said in a statement. “Andrea made a tremendous impact on the BCU community and everyone she met and will be greatly missed.”
On the same weekend another tragedy took place at Fordham University, where a student died after falling from a campus bell-and-clock tower during what some students claim to be a “rite of passage.”
Sydney Monfries, 22, a senior at the university in New York City, died Sunday as a result of the injuries she sustained when she fell inside the campus’ famed Keating Hall tower.
According to NBC New York, Monfries was with a group of friends around 3 a.m. Sunday when they decided to climb the inside of the tower to take in the view of the campus and surrounding city. Police said it appeared the woman had fallen through a hole on one of the stairway landings, plummeting to the floor below.
READ MORE: Another tourist dies after fall at Grand Canyon, the 3rd death in 8 days
According to university newspaper the Observer, emergency crews responded to the scene just before 3:30 a.m., and Monfries had suffered serious injuries to her head and pelvis. She was rushed to hospital where she later died of her injuries.
Students told the campus newspaper that it has become a “rite of passage” to climb the interior of the tower, touch the bell and snap some photos before graduation. The university neither confirmed nor denied the supposed rite, and is investigating how the students gained access to the tower, which an official says is normally locked.
“Our hearts go out to Sydney’s parents, and her family and friends—theirs is an unimaginable loss, and we share their grief,” School President Joseph McShane said in a statement.
— with a file from the Associated Press
Comments