Gabriela Silva
As a student ambassador at the Carolina Latinx Center, first-year student Gabriela Silva is helping make Carolina a more inclusive campus.
Always a great day to be a Tar Heel
Meet our Tar Heels
“It’s a great day to be a Tar Heel” is a phrase you’ll often hear around Carolina, and for a good reason.
Every day, Tar Heels create a positive impact on the world by improving their communities and inspiring change through their talents. They’re artists, scientists, humanitarians, researchers and innovators doing extraordinary things.
Meet our students and find out why every day is really is a great day to be a Tar Heel!
Carolina creators
Community builders
Abhishek Shankar
Rising senior Abhishek Shankar is working to launch the UNC-Chapel Hill Asian American Center to share a deeper understanding of the unique experience of being Asian American in the American South with the campus community.
Vi Le
Vi Le has combined what she learned in her advertising and Japanese classes to serve as the co-president of the UNC Aikido Club, which brings the Japanese self-defense martial art to the Carolina campus.
Jessica Hamilton
Jessica Hamilton helps build school spirit by filling the seats at all Tar Heel competitions through Carolina Fever, a student group that runs a rewards-based program to encourage students to attend University’s sporting events.
Young leaders
Our students are doing more than preparing for future careers. They're learning to become strong, mission-driven leaders who will create a better tomorrow as business owners, activists, public servants and military officers.
Chris Suggs
Chris Suggs is working to address cultural and diversity issues across campus and in the surrounding community. As a junior, Suggs served as the president of the Black Student Movement, one of the largest cultural organizations on campus, with the goal of empowering students to make positive change at Carolina.
Allie Omens
Allie Omens spent her free time at Carolina tackling environmental issues, including working toward a waste-free campus. She has led two environmental student organizations, organized a conference on green business practices and brought renewable energy to low-income communities.
Zach Nodden
After 10 years as an enlisted soldier in the Army, Zach Nodden enrolled at Carolina as part of the Army Green to Gold program, which provides enlisted, active-duty soldiers with an opportunity to complete their undergraduate degree and earn their commission as an officer.
Michelle Ballasiotes
Health policy and management major Michelle Ballasiotes is using her personal experience to raise awareness for pediatric strokes. The Tar Heel has traveled to Washington to inform legislators about pediatric strokes, to lobby for research funding for the National Institutes of Health and address the health care system.
Budding researchers
Emily Hynes
Graduate student Emily Hynes is using digital humanities tools to examine musical recordings from the American South to bring the true stories of the recordings to light.
Jeromy Rech
In addition to working to incorporate new materials for the creation of solar panels, graduate student Jeromy Rech is focused on helping other students succeed through mentoring and teaching.
Erin Jones
As a teacher, Erin Jones felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. As a Ph.D. student studying school psychology, now she’s finding innovative ways to lift that weight off of fellow educators.
Beyond stone walls
Our Tar Heels' impact isn't contained to just within the low-stone walls of our campus.
Our students are out in the state serving their communities and providing critical public services for North Carolinians.