By Graham Cook
Funds will go towards female international students
The friends and family of the late Lenami Godinez-Avila have created an Award Fund at SFU in her memory. Twenty seven year-old Godinez-Avila died in late April while hang-gliding off Mount Woodside in Agassiz, B.C.
According to a press release from RememberingLena.com, it was Godinez-Avila’s dream to create such a fund that would allow international students like herself to attend university abroad. The recipients of this award will therefore be female international students who wish to study at SFU. The same document states that “those selected will demonstrate a passion for sustainability, a connection to community and the drive to work hard — core values that exemplified Lenami throughout her life.”
Godinez-Avila was born in Mexico and came to study at Simon Fraser University in 2003. In 2006, she graduated with a BA in Latin American Studies and Economics, and went on to work for the B.C. Ministry of Environment. She participated in waste reduction projects such as a compost drop spot where apartment residents could deposit kitchen scraps. Godinez-Avila also regularly donated to SFU’s International Students’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The situation surrounding the young woman’s death is currently being reviewed by law enforcement. Witnesses claimed that she fell 300 meters about 30 seconds after takeoff. The tandem hang-gliding pilot involved, 50 year-old William Jonathan Orders, was arrested on charges of obstruction of justice for allegedly swallowing a camera’s memory card. The CBC reported that police used daily X-rays to follow the memory card through his body, and that the police are now in possession of the card.
Orders have been released on bail, with the conditions that he put up just over $5,700, surrender his passport, and not participate in any hang-gliding. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 18.
