Are you sure it wasn't 38 credit hours? Not saying you're wrong, but most colleges require approximately 127 credit hours to obtain a Bachelor's degree, which can be met by taking 5-6 3-credit classes per semester.
38 3-credit hour classes would mean he took 114 hours of African-American studies classes, leaving practically no time to obtain his "Gen Eds." Doesn't seem feasible to me, even at a highly reputable academic institution like North Carolina.