Ivy dream lost
Bx. teen drowns before Cornell classes start
A BRONX teenager whose joyous, dream-fulfilling Ivy League college acceptance was captured on national television drowned in Ithaca just before he was set to start at Cornell University, officials said Sunday.
Winston (Sammy) Perez-Ventura, 17, went swimming in Fall Creek near Ithaca Falls around 2:30 p.m. Saturday and never resurfaced, according to Ithaca police.
First responders searched the waterways and gorges across the area, with state police divers and helicopters joining in.
Troopers discovered PerezVentura’s body around 7:20 p.m. Saturday near where he drowned, police said.
The teen was in Ithaca for a freshman summer program as he prepared for his upcoming first semester at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
“Cornell was always his dream from the very first day I met him,” said Danielle Leach, Perez-Ventura’s high school homeroom teacher and college counselor. “He handed me a little piece of paper that said, ‘Cornell is my first choice and I want to study architecture.’ ”
Perez-Ventura got the word of his acceptance in December, and his glee was captured in an ABC News video that went viral. In it, Perez-Ventura opens an earlyacceptance email and is hugged by a room full of ecstatic fellow high schoolers.
“He was such a bright young man with a very promising future at Cornell and beyond,” said Ryan Lombardi, Cornell’s vice president for student and campus life.
Freshman orientation at Cornell is set to start in two weeks. Incoming students are required to pass a swim test and those who fail are required to take an additional class. Ithaca’s multitude of gorges and waterfalls are a popular attraction.
Acting Ithaca Police Chief Pete Tyler noted there are signs that prohibit swimming and trespassing at the falls.
“The Ithaca gorges are so, so beautiful,” said Tyler. “But they can be very dangerous.”
Perez-Ventura’s mother, Agnelli Gutierrez, who brought the teen to New York from their native Dominican Republic when he was 9, told ABC News in December that his acceptance into Cornell was a dream come true for her, too.
“As an immigrant, sometimes we cannot have maybe so much of a heritage to leave to our kids,” she told the network. “But education is the main thing that we can definitely get for them.”
Perez-Ventura’s heartbroken parents returned to their Bronx home Sunday night, too distraught to speak with a reporter. His mom carried a bouquet of flowers as tears poured from her eyes.
“I love you my son!!” she posted on Facebook Sunday. “I'll see you soon, go and rest with Christ.”
A GoFundMe page for the family had raised over $12,000 by Sunday evening.