Faculty

Alex J. Kenney, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Higher Education and College Student Affairs
Educational Psychology
Contact
alex.kenney@gse.rutgers.edu
1-848-932-0812
GSE Room 309

Dr. Kenney is an Afropessimist theorist of higher education. His research qualitatively analyzes the structure of antiblackness on campus and in surrounding college towns. Through this work, he aims to elucidate the specificity of Black students’ experiences and identify strategies that can support their navigation of post-secondary contexts.

Education:
• Ph.D in Higher Education, Penn State University
• M.Ed. in Higher Education, Penn State University
• B.S. in Communications Arts and Sciences, Penn State University
Affiliations:
  • Recent and Select Publications
    • Kenney, A. J. (2025). Shaped by antiblackness: black undergraduates’ experiences of antiblackness at a historically and predominantly white institution. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 38(4), 588–603. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2024.2416701
    • Kenney, A. J., & Johnson, R. M. (2024). “We haven’t seen any action”: A Black critical theory analysis of how Black undergraduates perceive institutional responses to incidents of anti-Blackness. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000592
  • Expertise/Research Interest
    • Afropessimism in higher education
    • Anti-Black racial incidents
    • Black collegians’ experiences
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