I have read both your email and the memo from Dean Swearer with great interest. I must say that we continue to be as perplexed and distressed as before. There seems to have been a complete absence of sensitivity to student perceptions.
Architects follow directions.
Calling this the Helpern Plan seems a bit disingenuous. Has it occurred to you the possibility that you are proposing to excise a vital organ during cosmetic surgery. Apparently constrictive time limits have been given to the faculty task force, and, I am sure, a bitter ultimatum to a few concerned faculty, while probably others will be let go outright. Anyone would like to have a nice-looking place to eat, but this is a ridiculously high price. I fail to see why anyone would want to contribute toward a capital campaign by an art school that would exhibit priorities such as these.