Charlotte School of Law has been plagued by calamity over the course of the past six months. First, the school was placed on probation by the American Bar Association for its questionable admissions policies and its graduates’ inability to pass the bar exam. Then, the Department of Education revoked the school’s access to the federal student loan program. Next, the school received a “zone” rating, meaning that it came precariously close to failing the Department of Education’s gainful employment test. Then, the school fired dozens of faculty, including all but three of its bar exam coaches — even though a secret recording revealed that had it not paid students to defer the bar exam, its passage rate for the July 2016 exam would have been close to “20-something percent” (its passage rate was actually 45.24 percent). Amid all of this insanity, the school’s dean stepped down on March 20, and his replacement, Scott Broyles, announced that Charlotte would “partner with a university in the northeast” and become a non-profit institution. Days later, Charlotte Law posted the worst results on the bar exam in its history, with only 25 percent of first-time takers passing.
If you thought the runaway train that is the Charlotte School of Law was coming to a stop, then you thought wrong — what we’re dealing with is more of a complete derailment. This morning, without any warning, Scott Broyles resigned from the deanship. He lasted less than one month in the position.
Here’s the email that he sent to all faculty and students at 9:05 a.m.:
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Scott Broyles
Friends:
It is with regret that I tell you that I have just resigned as Interim Dean.
I plan to continue in my role as faculty member and will do everything I can to help Charlotte School of Law.
Thank you all for your many kindnesses.
Best,
Scott Broyles
Broyles’s message is short and sweet, just like his tenure as dean.
Graduates were notified of this change by way of a tense mass email sent from the school’s alumni association: “Like you, your Alumni Association is confused by this development and concerned for what it means for the future of our law school.”
Broyles’s sudden departure certainly doesn’t lend any credence to the idea that Charlotte Law will be able to survive for much longer. The law school seems to be on the brink of disaster. What on earth is going on there? If you have any other information on the situation that is quickly unfolding, we ask that you please contact us via email.
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.