A Syracuse University fraternity collaborated with the BE Wise alcohol awareness campaign to create a video in the hopes of reducing unsafe drinking.

The partnership of Delta Kappa Epsilon and the BE Wise campaign released a video last week aimed at drawing attention to the downsides of alcohol abuse. The video, titled “Make Wise Choices,” which depicts a night of drinking gone sour, was released on Feb. 25 and has more than 1,300 views on YouTube.

In September 2014, Pam Peter, director of the office of student rights and responsibilities, received an offer from DKE to promote alcohol awareness on campus from DKE.

William Valle, DKE alumni relations chair and a senior economics and political science dual major, said he reached out to BE Wise on behalf of his fraternity because Scott Friedburg, DKE’s president at the time, wanted the organization to be more involved with such issues on campus.

“It makes this unique,” Valle said of the fraternity’s involvement with the campaign. “We wanted to use the social clout of Greek life to get through to students.”

Valle recalled realizing how real the problem was while listening to Peter’s anecdotes of students being transported to the hospital with alcohol-related injuries every weekend.

The BE Wise campaign is an account of Hill Communications, a student-run public relations firm. The Hill Communications staff bounced ideas for collaboration back and forth with DKE brothers during last semester, said Demi Douglas, who supervises the BE Wise account for Hill Comm.

“There’s been a lot of hands in this project,” said Douglas, a junior public relations major. “We were happy to have any assistance with promoting our message.”

DKE and BE Wise eventually decided to produce a video, with early ideas involving riffs off of a video that circulated online in October 2014 involving a GoPro mounted on a bottle of Fireball whiskey. Another idea would have involved testimonies about negative drinking experiences from DKE brothers, Valle said.

For the task of directing the video, the two organizations tapped Vincent DeRise, an information management grad student and 2014 SU alumnus with a degree in television, radio and film.

DeRise, who owns media production company Few Among Many, said a large inspiration for the video’s feel came from the song “Stay High” by Tove Lo, which soundtracks the video.

“We were trying to capture the nostalgia of feeling like you’ve had too much to drink,” DeRise said. “It’s an experience many college students have had.”

The video, shot in November 2014, features a college student’s night at a house party. The main character, portrayed by Bobby O’Brien, a senior television, radio and film major, consumes drink after drink, ending the night incoherent and passed out on a chair.

“While safety is important, there are other reasons to know your limits, have some self-control,” DeRise said. “You could lose out on a fun night with your friends, not meet a girl who was at that party.”

DeRise, who was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, said he thought that fraternity members are often pressured by one another to drink too much, an issue addressed by the video.

“Drinking is so ingrained into the social culture of Syracuse,” Valle, the DKE member, said. “Showing a more realistic perspective seemed like a better way to reach people than the scare tactics many PSAs use.”

Valle and Douglas said that future collaborations were possible between DKE and BE Wise, most likely in the form of more videos.

Published on March 5, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Thomas: tjbeckle@syr.edu