Help With Possible Novel?

[TheNxtNancyDrew]

This Cuthbert College, a well-respected liberal arts college in the south (but not Deep South). It's about 10,000 students, including grad school (~7,000 undergrad). There are 7 NPC-style sororities and about twice that number of fraternities. About 25% of students go Greek.

Obviously, all stereotypes should be taken with a HUGE grain of salt, even fictional ones.

Top Tier

Theta Gamma Pi (Theta Pi) – “best.” Rich, classy. “Stuck up.” “The marrying kind.”
Colors: Cream and Gold.
Symbol: Sun
Flower: Goldenrod
Chapter: Alpha
Founded: October 17th, 1923
Founded on campus: 1923 (first sorority on campus, first chapter of sorority). Founded as underground local to bring Greek Life to CuthCo.

Omicron Iota (Omicron I) – Party girls. Theta Pi rejects. “Slutty”
Colors: Baby Blue and Royal Purple
Symbol: Sword
Flower: Bluebell
Chapter: Omega Alpha
Founded: August 12, 1884 at Barnard College. One of the first sororities, founded at Barnard College by the sister of a fraternity man who envied the camaraderie and brotherhood her brother enjoyed through Phi Nu Rho.
Founded on campus: 1954 (brought to campus in conjunction with 2 other chapters)

Delta Epsilon Tau (DET, Delta Ep) – Sporty, outgoing, involved. Most likely to be Student Body Prez, etc. Respected but not necessarily desirable. "No sisterhood" "Ambitious"
Colors: Ruby and Bronze
Symbol: Ruby, Unicorn
Flower: Mistletoe
Chapter: Epsilon Kappa
Founded: May 11, 1894
Founded on campus: 1973

Middle Tier

Chi Rho Sigma (Chi Sig) – Involved. "DET rejects."
Colors: Coral and White
Symbol: Starfish
Flower: Lady slipper
Chapter: Zeta Xi
Founded: 1901
Founded on campus: 1954 (brought to campus in conjunction with 2 other chapters)

Beta Alpha Mu (Beta, Beta Mu, BAM) – Smart, Academic. "Boring"
Colors: Mint and Midnight Blue
Symbol: Harp
Flower: Daisy
Chapter: Delta Delta
Founded: April 24, 1885, also at Barnard College, by some women who felt excluded by Omicron I (then known as the “Order of Isis Society”). This has led to a century-long sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile rivalry between the two sororities.
Founded on Campus: 1963

Bottom Tier

Kappa Theta Lambda (KTL, K-Lamb) – Nerdy, Invisible
Colors: Cerulean and Lavender
Symbol: Bluebird, Budding Tree
Flower: Lavendar
Chapter: Beta Theta
Founded: 1910
Founded on campus: 1954 (brought to campus in conjunction with 2 other chapters)

Eta Phi Chi (Eta Phi) – “fat,” "rejects." Sisterly.
Colors: Blush and Pine
Symbol: Stylized star, Wreath
Flower: Garland Green
Chapter: Gamma Pi
Founded: December 25, 1914—began as an invite-only club founded by the sisters and daughters of men fighting in World War I. Open meaning of letters: “Home For Christmas.”
Founded on campus: 2001 (newest chapter)

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Is anything leaping out at you (definitely wrote "out of you" which would be very different and worrying), good or bad?

Specific questions:
--Are the Eta Phi colors too close to DZ? I really liked the idea of having a "Home for Christmas" sorority, but couldn't use red & green due to AXO, so this was my compromise.
--Are the flowers too obscure? Should I change them to be roses/carnations since about half the sororities share those anyway?
--Did I accidentally co-opt colors/symbols/founding without realizing it?

This was surprisingly hard. Several of these came to me almost fully formed, but others I felt I was scraping the bottom of the barrel... is it obvious?

Constructive criticism appreciated, but I will also accept heaping praise and vitriolic hate.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by TheNxtNancyDrew

Omicron Iota (Omicron I)
Colors: Baby Blue and Royal Purple

Kappa Theta Lambda (KTL, K-Lamb)
Colors: Cerulean and Lavender

These seem very close to the same pair of colors, and the Baby Blue and Royal Purple in particular made me think of Theta Nu Xi.

[HQWest]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

These seem very close to the same thing pair of colors, and the Baby Blue and Royal Purple in particular made me think of Theta Nu Xi.

The harp is really similar to AXO's lyre? and DPhiE's symbol is the unicorn?

Barnard might also be a touchy subject for some since AEPhi and AOPi were founded there even though Barnard no longer has sororities? Barnard women are involved with Columbia sororities.

[TheNxtNancyDrew]

Originally Posted by HQWest

The harp is really similar to AXO's lyre? and DPhiE's symbol is the unicorn?

Thank you, and also to Mystic Cat. I can't believe I managed to miss how similar those colors are. Will look into Theta Nu Xi's colors---and back to the Crayola box, I guess.

HQ--I definitely thought about the harp/lyre problem, can't remember my reasoning that they were different. I was really struggling for symbols at that point. Ditto for the unicorn.

Thanks, guys, this is exactly why I need GreekChat. There's just so MANY existing orgs!

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by TheNxtNancyDrew

I was really struggling for symbols at that point. Ditto for the unicorn.

My suggestion would be to try not to think in terms of single symbols. Instead, think of combinations or specific forms of certain things -- think, for example, of ADPi's two stars and black diamond, Kappa Sig's star and crescent or Lambda Chi's cross and crescent. Or think of symbols that pertain only to an specific organization, like Chi Phi's chakett.

I mean, even if you just went with, say, a single (seven-point?) star in a point-down triangle, that would be distinctive and wouldn't mimic an existing org, I don't think.

[TheNxtNancyDrew]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

My suggestion would be to try not to think in terms of single symbols. Instead, think of combinations or specific forms of certain things -- think, for example, of ADPi's two stars and black diamond, Kappa Sig's star and crescent or Lambda Chi's cross and crescent. Or think of symbols that pertain only to an specific organization, like Chi Phi's chackett.

I mean, even if you just went with, say, a single (seven-point?) star in a point-down triangle, that would be distinctive and wouldn't mimic an existing org, I don't think.

This is a great suggestion. Thank you.

[TheNxtNancyDrew]

Originally Posted by HQWest

Barnard might also be a touchy subject for some since AEPhi and AOPi were founded there even though they no longer have sororities?

Barnard's kind of a placeholder for me right now, I mostly wanted to emphasize that they were founded on the same campus around the same time. I will probably invent a founding university for them, but my brain is overtaxed at the moment.