Noorkaran (Noor) Chima
Class of 2026
Hometown: Streetsboro, OH
Streetsboro, OH
Noorkaran (Noor) Chima graduated as a Levine Scholar with Bachelor of Science degrees in both Biology and Psychology. Her academic and professional interests center on human behavior, cognition, civil rights and law.
She completed internships with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and International House, where she worked on issues related to religious liberty, immigrant communities, language access and social justice. On campus, Noor served as Founder and President of the Punjabi & Sikh Student Association, Associate Editor-in-Chief of the ETHEL Undergraduate Research Journal, a research assistant in the Philosophy & Critical Theory Lab, and a Rally NC Campus Organizing Fellow during the 2024 election. She also graduated with Honors in Psychology after completing a rigorous 90-page thesis examining the psychological impacts of extremist White nationalist rhetoric on religious minorities. Additionally, she served as a Niner Guide, providing campus tours to prospective students and families for all 4 of her years at UNC Charlotte.
As Founder and Project Lead of her Levine Scholars civic engagement initiative, the Future Civic Leaders Program, Noor partnered with Center360 to create a legal and civic education workshop series for underserved middle school students in Charlotte. She also studied abroad in Stellenbosch, South Africa and Santander, Spain during her undergraduate years.
Noor was recognized for her leadership and campus impact as a 2025 Homecoming Niner 9 recipient and as the recipient of the Bonnie E. Cone Leadership Award, the highest non-academic honor awarded at UNC Charlotte. She hopes to continue advocating for underrepresented communities through a future career in law.