Yale parents are known for their meticulous planning skills (Exhibit A: their children attend Yale) -- skills that, when it comes to graduation weekend, are on full display. Dinner at Union League, drinks at Zinc, and, of course, one of the 86 coveted suites at the storied Colony Inn. Some have been known to reserve their rooms at the Colony as much as a year in advance. (At some hotels, parents make graduation reservations upon their child's admission.)

But last month, Yale parents received some apocalyptic news: the Colony Inn will be renovating until fall 2007, throwing commencement planning into something out of the Left Behind books. "We are confident you will be delighted by the changes we have planned and look forward to welcoming you back in the future," reads the perky letter to guests, which we imagine them reading with a cancer diagnosis face. "We thank you for your support and sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding."

Surely. The announcement hasn't drawn much attention yet, and, according to the hotel's manager, parents haven't been complaining. Uh huh. In fact, the Colony has arranged for guests to be relocated to either the nearby Clarion Hotel or "university housing." Clarion, fair enough -- it's the "university housing" we're worried about. Something tells us Mr. and Mrs. Nigel T. Haversham IV may end up having to spoon on Nigel V's grubby futon. We expect fallout -- or, at the very least, some strenuous letter-writing. It'll be like a campus protest, but with stationery!