What if the market value of an endowment falls below its actual original amount because of a prolonged economic recession? Would ACEF still make a distribution?

Under the law, distributions may still be made even though the endowment has fallen below its historical value so long as the ACEF board, in fulfilling its fiduciary duty, exercises prudence and performs a reasoned analysis, guided by applicable statutes. This decision would constitute an exception to the policy that the principal of an endowment is not spent, and it would be invoked only during extraordinary times.