Participants play volleybal at last year’s BE-BQ on the Quad.

The BE-BQ is free and open to all students. There will be barbecue food, lawn activities and a volleyball tournament. Additionally, four musically talented students, Arson Aliyev, Paige Carlotti, Joel Ramtahal and Victor Suarez, will be participating in a DJ competition at 6 p.m. Students who attend will be able to text in votes and the final winner will be recognized by the BE Wise campaign and its branded character, Party F. Owl.

BE Wise is an award-winning campaign that began in spring 2013 as a way to build awareness of alcohol poisoning at ���ϲ�����. Its goal is to creatively engage students and equip them with the knowledge to make safer decisions, as opposed to telling students not to drink. The Division of Student Affairs has been working with the Newhouse-based student public relations firm Hill Communications,which helped craft the campaign’s messaging, as well as develop the marketing and promotional strategies. In 2013, BE Wise was awarded first place by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s national Technology Based Products to Prevent High Risk Drinking among College Students National Challenge. In this same year, Hill Communications was awarded Best Campaign by a Student-run Firm by the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) for its work on the BE Wise campaign.

There are three central pillars to the BE Wise campaign: BE Real and know your limits; BE There and make the call when someone is in need of help; and BE Aware by knowing the signs of alcohol poisoning. The campaign uses the acronym C.U.P.S to remind students of the signs: cold skin, unresponsiveness, puking and slow breathing.

For more information on the BE Wise campaign, go to . Follow it on Facebook: or on Twitter:

For questions, to schedule a BE Wise Training or inquiries about integrating the campaign into existing programs and curriculum, contact subewise@syr.edu.

Sean Martinelli ’15, a Newhouse broadcast and digital journalism student, will guide the conversation with Taylor in room 204 Tolley. It will be open to students, faculty, staff and the public. The discussion will also be live-streamed online .

Space for the event will be limited, so those interested in attending should RSVP with Martinelli at stmart06@syr.edu.

“Dr. Taylor fundamentally shifted my perspective on life,” Martinelli says. “This will be an eye-opening conversation for students, and all those watching around the world via our global webcast.”

In 1996, Taylor found herself suffering a massive stroke that caused her to lose her ability to walk, talk, read and remember details. She recounted her story in the bestselling memoir “My Stroke of Insight,” which has since been published in 30 languages. Having lost her left-brain’s function following the stroke, Taylor’s consciousness shifted entirely into the present moment, where she says she was “at one with the universe”.

Known for her widely viewed TED talk, which has garnered over 15 million views, and appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2008, Taylor’s work has resonated with countless people from across the world. In 2008, Time magazine also named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

During Taylor’s Soulful Sit-Down appearance, she will share the unique insight and lessons she has gathered over the years since her recovery. Participants will also have the chance to ask her questions about her life’s journey.

Soulful Sit-Downs, a program of the Office of Health Promotion within the Division of Student Affairs, are a series of student-run conversations intending to help participants seek a higher expression of themselves, and develop a deeper understanding of their life’s purpose.

For more information, contact Martinelli at stmart06@syr.edu.