it appears as if the board made a decision to somehow "borrow" money out
of special funds to cover the immediate cash requirement. My question
becomes which fund did they borrow from and under what terms? Further, i
wonder if they actually had the right to divert such funds.. either under
te bylaws of the ssa and/or under the endowment terms?

The Foundation is a separate organization with a separate Board. The SSA had
to ask the Foundation if it could borrow some funds. The Foundation board
decides what funds can be loaned and what funds need to stay committed to
other purposes.