Student from South Jersey dies in campus fall

A Cornell University student from South Jersey died Thursday night at a Syracuse, N.Y., hospital after plunging into a campus gorge.

On Saturday, Keith O'Donnell, of Erial, Camden County, tumbled 30 feet down one of two spectacular chasms that cleave Cornell's Ithaca campus.

O'Donnell, a 23-year-old junior at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, said goodnight to his girlfriend about 1:30 a.m. and was walking back to his dorm room when he fell, said his aunt, Jennifer O'Donnell.

A Cornell spokesman said the university "does a lot of education with students about gorge safety." Accidents, however, still occur.

Keith O'Donnell was discovered at 2 a.m. and taken by helicopter to SUNY Upstate Medical University's trauma center in Syracuse, where he was treated for severe head injuries and a punctured lung, his aunt said.

O'Donnell, who was a star wrestler his freshman year at Highland Regional High School in Blackwood, won a scholarship to the Peddie School in Hightstown, where he continued to be a standout grappler. He wrestled for Cornell his first two years in the 174-pound weight class, according to a university website.

A fund has been set up by his family at Commerce Bank to return O'Donnell to New Jersey and provide for a scholarship in his name. Donations may be made to the Keith O'Donnell Memorial Fund, c/o Commerce Bank, 601 College Drive, Blackwood NJ 08012.