Education

After dropping out in the ‘90s, hip-hop producer just graduated from NC Central

By Jane Winik Sartwell

May 12, 2026 5:00 AM

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.

9th Wonder dropped out of NC Central to pursue a career as a hip hop producer.
He won a Grammy & has worked with Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Drake.
He graduated from North Carolina Central University as part of the Class of 2026.

Hello reader! Welcome back to Higher Stakes, your higher education newsletter. I’m Jane Winik Sartwell.

A group of UNC-Chapel Hill graduates walked out of their commencement ceremony on Saturday, a tradition that’s survived for three consecutive years. It started in 2024 as a protest of the university’s response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, but in the years since, the walk-out’s focus has widened. This year, the group of about 10 students walked out during Chancellor Lee Roberts’ speech to the graduates, protesting, among other things, the dismantling of UNC’s global studies centers and the creation of the School of Civic Life and Leadership.

On Wednesday, the Board of Trustees at UNC will hold its last meeting until July — virtually. The trustees rescheduled and moved it online because their original meeting time conflicted with the UNC System Board of Governors.

Here are some items from the agenda I’ll be watching for at the meeting.

What to expect at UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees

Plans for Carolina North are moving forward. UNC is in the early stages of developing of an 230-acre tract of land 1.5 miles north of the main campus, where the school hopes to build academic classrooms, research facilities, retail and entertainment options, health services, green space, and student and workforce housing. The trustees will review and select design firms to handle the Carolina North master plan. Seventeen firms applied to the job, four were shortlisted, and now, the trustees will rank those four firms in priority order. The names of the shortlisted firms aren’t specified on the agenda. In January, the board approved $8 million in part to fund this master planning stage.

Big investments and changes to student housing are coming. The university plans to spend $141.2 million demolishing Jackson Hall and nearby tennis courts, and constructing two new residence hall buildings with roughly 730 total beds, slated to be ready by August 2028. In addition, the school hopes to spend $112 million demolishing Parker and Teague residence halls and constructing a new residence hall with about 550 beds, ready by August 2030. Carolina will request the UNC System take on debt to fund these projects.

The trustees will discuss Carolina’s biggest risks. The school’s most pressing risk for financial year 2026, according to Dean Weber, UNC’s chief audit officer, is workforce sustainability and institutional knowledge: “potential loss of faculty and staff in critical roles, difficulty recruiting replacements amid stagnant compensation, and simultaneous large-scale change initiatives that strain engagement. This can occur in the backdrop of administrative staff reductions, vacancy-based savings, and ServiceFirst implementation.”

Patrick Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder, laughs as he talks with students while teaching the History of Hip Hop at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., Thursday, October 24, 2019. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com

Grammy-winning producer 9th Wonder graduates from NC Central

Patrick Douthit — known professionally as 9th Wonder — dropped out of NC Central in the 1990s to pursue a career as a hip-hop producer. Turns out, that was a shrewd move: He won a Grammy in 2005, and over the years, has worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu and Drake.

Now, he teaches courses on hip-hop history, culture, and production at NC Central and Duke. He’s also taught at Harvard and Wake Forest.

“However this was, since I was a kid, the first thing on my list. To graduate college,” he wrote on Instagram last week.

Despite teaching at NC Central, he never actually finished his degree. After this weekend, though, that’s no longer true. He graduated as part of the Class of 2026, walking across the stage at the McDougald-McLendon Arena in Durham.

“This Saturday, after 26 years of dropping out of school to pursue a dream, I finally get to walk across that stage, at the school where I met friends, family, and even taught students,” he wrote. “North Carolina Central University. It’s been a long time since I first stepped in Chidley Hall, 1st floor Annex, rm 106. 33 years ago to be exact. As the saying goes… it’s never too late.”

NC Teaching Fellows program continues to expand

NC Teaching Fellows is a UNC System initiative that provides tuition assistance to future North Carolina public school teachers. This year, the program welcomed more students than ever before: a record 522. Of these, 345 will pursue elementary education, 93 will study special education, and 84 in STEM education.

That means that next year, there will be 1,250 fellows in North Carolina colleges, a 340% increase from the number four years ago.

Here’s how the program works: Each selected student who has committed to teaching in a North Carolina public school receives a forgivable loan of up to $10,000 per year to study education. The loans are forgiven once the fellow has taught for the same number of years that they received the loan.

“North Carolina has a growing teacher workforce shortage, according to the UNC System’s recent workforce alignment study,” a statement from the UNC System reads. As job demand increases, the UNC System plays an important role in developing talent, producing more than 75% of bachelor’s and higher degrees in critical fields like education.”

But public school teachers in North Carolina are frustrated with state of their profession. Thousands took to the streets earlier this month to demand higher pay and more funding for schools. The event was promoted as one of the biggest labor actions in the state’s history.