Long ago, a student at Cornell drowned in the Cascadilla Gorge near the school, which resulted in all the Ivy League universities adopting a mandatory swim test – at least, that is how the urban legend goes at Columbia. Today, only three Ivies – Cornell, Columbia and Dartmouth – still have the requirement, but the others may have to adopt it yet again, because during the summer a student drowned in the Fall Creek Gorge.

According to the police report, Douglas Lowe, Cornell ’11, was swimming in the Gorge when he slid of a rock and fell into a whirling pool. He was pronounced dead on the scene when his body was found that same day.

The Cornell Daily Sun reports:

This summer he was enrolled in a three-week summer class. On June 12, while swimming at Fall Creek gorge, he slid off a smooth rock and was caught in a swirling pool of water. He was pronounced dead and his body was recovered that same day.

 

Lowe — a Jackie Robinson Scholar and a Cornell Tradition Fellow — was accepted to Cornell when he was 16. He dedicated most of his free time to volunteer work, jazz and dancing.

Our condolences go out to Lowe’s family and friends

Hopefully, something is done to prevent this from happening again, because it’s readily apparent that, if the Cornell workload doesn’t kill students, the Gorge will.