He was not summa, he was magna. How much of this was merit, and how much his people skills is a matter of debate.
As for his admission to the law school, did you miss the disclosure by the bigtime Harlem politician/HLS alum that he had intervened on Obama’s behalf—allegedly at the request of a radical political activist who was raising money for Obama’s education?
Of course the Obama campaign denied it.
I saw one bio that said “summa,” but you may be right. I think the point is still valid. There are not that many Blacks graduating from the most prestigious law school in America with an honors degree and President of the HLR on the resume. He should have gotten all sorts of judicial clerkship offers, and I have never read that he got any. This is the sort of nagging inconsistency that makes my BS Meter twitch.