[David Stout] and other SCAD faculty had voiced opposition to administrative practices at the privately held SCAD campus in Atlanta and attempted to form a faculty senate. Their dismissal earned SCAD a censure from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which claimed, in a six-page report, that SCAD administrators had violated the largely accepted principles of academic tenure and freedom, as well as procedural standards in faculty dismissal. The AAUP report, compiled by a 15-person investigating committee comprised of professors from around the country, also found that SCAD had ignored a prima facie case presented by Stout and his peers that the terminations had violated their academic freedom. SCAD has never responded to the report, outside of a letter drafted by a lawyer that states it "does not accept" the "version of the facts" represented.

Any debate about the relative merits of SCAD as an art school, its presence in Santa Fe and its value as a partner for CSF in a yet-to-be-determined capacity is difficult to parse in entirety at this point. It would certainly be preferable for a significant philanthropic and community effort from within Santa Fe to bolster CSF as an independent institution ready to reinvent and revitalize itself in tandem with many of the community's larger priorities. But whether the issue is insufficient goodwill or insufficient cash stores, it is almost purely fantasy to hope for such an event. If CSF needs $5 million by "summer" just to survive, how many more millions are required to prosper? Therefore, no one may fault the prudency of the board in seeking a partner with deep pockets and extant resources. Further, there are open questions as to how condemnable SCAD is today for its actions of well more than a decade ago.

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