Semester assessment of college wind band members is an issue that conductors would probably agree falls within their academic freedom. Institutions may award as little as no credit or even a percentage of a credit for ensemble participation, although the time and effort required of the students and their conductor is undoubtedly equivalent to, or exceeds, that of a three-credit course. If an academic administrator, seeing a large percentage of A's in an ensemble, were to question the assessment process of the conductor and/or the rigor of the course, could that conductor produce tangible evidence, such as grades or numeric scores, to justify each student's grade? As improbable as this might sound to college wind band conductors, it was, for a brief period, a serious issue at the author's institution. The following article describes the situation that occurred and the resulting procedures and outcomes that put the issue to rest. (Contains 4 tables and 15 notes.)