If
you
spent
the
tail
end
of
last
week
watching
the
NCAA
Tournament,
you
may
have
encountered
High
Point
University,
the
12-seed
that
knocked
off
Wisconsin
83-82
in
one
of
the
Big
Ten’s
few
blemishes
so
far.
And
if
you
watched
the
ensuing
media
coverage,
you
may
have
learned
that
High
Point
is,
as
Defector
put
it,
“a
deeply
weird
school.”
And
now
it’s
a
deeply
weird
school
with
provisional
approval
from
the
ABA
for
its
law
school.
High
Point’s
Kenneth
F.
Kahn
School
of
Law
earned
the
designation
from
ABA’s
Council
of
the
Section
of
Legal
Education
and
Admissions
to
the
Bar
at
the
most
recent
meeting.
Provisional
approval
means
the
school’s
graduates
—
High
Point
began
enrolling
law
students
in
2024
—
can
sit
for
the
bar
exam
and
are
entitled
to
the
same
recognition
as
graduates
of
fully
approved
schools.
The
school
will
need
to
demonstrate
full
compliance
within
five
years
to
earn
permanent
accreditation.
It’s
just
another
piece
of
the
professional
puzzle
for
the
private
North
Carolina
school,
which
brands
itself
as
“The
Premier
Life
Skills
University.”
And
by
“life
skills,”
the
school
means
training
graduates
to
be
the
most
obnoxious
spam
poster
on
LinkedIn:
Because
job
interviews
and
client
deals
often
happen
over
meals,
administrators
want
students
to
rehearse
social
etiquette.
So
they
built
a
steakhouse,
Mediterranean
restaurant
and
Teppanyaki
grill,
where
students
can
eat
weekly
as
part
of
their
meal
plan.
Reservations
are
required;
phones
banished.Also
on
campus
is
an
airplane-cabin
interior,
because
sitting
next
to
an
executive
on
a
plane
could
offer
a
golden
opportunity—one
young
people
should
rehearse
for.
The
campus
concierge
offers
students
airport
shuttle
service
for
free
if
they
wear
a
High
Point
University
shirt;
otherwise
it
costs
$95—a
lesson
in
brand
awareness.
Everything
about
that
is
insufferable.
But
at
least
a
school
has
come
along
to
protect
a
future
JD
Vance
from
the
supposed
trauma
he
suffered
when
he
couldn’t
figure
out
a
salad
fork.
As
the
WSJ
article
notes,
“some
online
critics
deem
High
Point
a
‘glorified
country
club,’
a
characterization
students
and
administrators
dispute.”
Presumably
the
school
takes
offense
that
“glorified”
seems
to
mock
the
genuine
country
club
they’ve
built.
The
school
charges
wealthy
students
almost
$40,000
for
private
housing
and
has
six
heated
pools
on
campus.
High
Point
charges
high
tuition
to
teach
rich
kids
—
“Half
of
Wall
Street
sends
their
kids
to
this
school,”
brags
the
university
president
—
to
Patrick
Bateman
their
way
to
the
top
by
rehearsing
power
lunches
and
becoming
some
air
travel
weary
executive’s
nightmare
single-serving
friend.
As
for
the
law
school,
its
140
or
so
students
—
having
only
started
accepting
students
for
the
Fall
of
2024,
there
are
only
1Ls
and
2Ls
so
far
—
enjoy
a
shiny
new
77,000-square-foot
building
featuring
a
120-seat
courtroom,
two
smaller
courtrooms,
and
a
13,000-square-foot
law
library.
Presumably
they
also
have
one
of
those
F1
simulators,
except
for
chasing
down
ambulances.
The
founding
dean
is
Mark
Martin,
former
Chief
Justice
of
the
North
Carolina
Supreme
Court,
who
has
previously
served
as
a
law
school
dean.
Which
sounds
great
until
you
realize
that
his
prior
law
school
deanship
was
at
Regent,
a
school
founded
by
a
guy
who
thought hurricanes
target
gay
rights
and
that
earthquakes
are
the
natural
result
of
overthrowing
slavery,
and
that
Martin
himself
is
allegedly
—
along
with
John
Eastman
—
the
other
half
of
the
“Mike
Pence
could
unilaterally
declare
that
Trump
won
the
2020
election
if
he
wanted
to”
theory
booster
club.
According
to
the
New
York
Times,
Trump
personally
told
Pence
that
Martin
had
advised
him
the
VP
had
the
power
to
decide
who
wins
a
presidential
election.
In
Martin’s
defense,
Trump
has
also
claimed
that
a
former
president
told
him
that
he
wished
he’d
gone
to
war
with
Iran
—
a
conversation
all
living
presidents
have
denied
having
—
so
it’s
possible
the
convicted
felon
did
not
properly
convey
Martin’s
advice.
That
said,
the
January
6
Committee’s
final
report
indicates
Martin
spoke
with
Trump
about
it
over
a
seven-minute
phone
call.
Maybe
he
should’ve
spoken
with
him
on
an
airplane.
How
a
Small
North
Carolina
College
Became
a
Magnet
for
Wealthy
Students
[WSJ]
High
Point
Is
A
Deeply
Weird
School
[Defector]
Earlier:
Donald
Trump
Pegs
Law
School
Dean
As
Source
Of
Dingbat
‘Pence
Can
Overturn
Election’
Theory
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
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if
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Joe
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Managing
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