[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Ummmm....no they didn't. If I remember correctly, a lawsuit was mentioned.

They did not sue. While I'm sure some individuals said things like "they/we should sue," I would be very surprised if Tri Delta seriously considered it, both because the likelihood of winning would have been almost non-existant and because the possible negative publicity from that would have far outweighed any negative publicity from the skit itself.

Here are two articles that touch both on the "Delta Delta Delta" skit and the wider issue of mentioning GLOs in unflattering ways in entertainment:

The Daily Pennsylvanian -- "TriDelt sisters in snit over SNL skit" (Jan. 14, 1992)

The Daily Campus -- "TV's 'Greek': Get Real (Aug. 29, 2007)

The second article was written by the Senior Director of Operations for Tri Delta. In it she says:

But on the other hand, if you believe that there is no such thing as bad publicity, then I guess you could argue that Hutsell's choice to use Delta Delta Delta as opposed to a fictional sorority was a tribute to a popular women's organization. I personally think she chose us because our name is easy-only one fairly simple Greek letter repeated three times. Either way, our organization and our name received a lot of attention that year. Incidentally, as a member of Tri Delta's professional staff, one of the top five questions I get when I talk to people about what I do is, "Did you sue 'Saturday Night Live?'" We did not.

Meanwhle, the first article has this:

TriDelt's national Executive Director Paula Turner said yesterday SNL used the sorority's letters without permission from the national office, but said she "would be way out of line to comment on [legal action] at this time." "[The skit is] a real slam to the entire Greek system," Turner added.

However, SNL comedienne Beth Cahill, a co-writer and star of the skit, said they meant no harm and that she is surprised by the sorority's reaction. "Didn't they like it?" she asked. "People who are secure with themselves can laugh at themselves," said Melanie Hutsell, another co-writer and star. "Those girls should lighten up." Hutsell recognized that "not all sorority girls are like the characters we played. Our characters are very heightened and exaggerated."

I'm not suggesting that anyone is "wrong" to feel offended when their letters are used in this way. But I do think that making a fuss over it can exacerbate things while shrugging it off takes some of the sting out.