On April 14, 2021, the Rutgers University Board of Governors conferred the title of associate professor with tenure to Khadijah Costley White, effective July 1, 2021. White, who researches media and politics from a cultural studies approach, is a faculty member in SC&I’s Journalism and Media Studies Department.

Professor Amy Jordan, chair of the Journalism and Media Studies Department, said, "Dr. White is a brilliant scholar whose star has clearly risen.  Her work is timely, cutting edge, and creative and it exemplifies the department's commitment to engage with issues of social justice." 

White's 2018 book, “Raising the Volume: How the News Media Created the Tea Party,” continues to be the go-to source as people try to get their heads around the country's extreme political polarization.  Today, she is examining media coverage of school shootings and the human consequences of lockdown culture by working the students, parents, staff and policy makers of South Orange-Maplewood to think deeply about the politics and impact of America’s security culture on schools and how race intersects with these complex issues.”

This year she was named a Whiting Fellow for her project titled “Security, Trauma, and Schools: A Film-Centered Community Dialogue.” Through her fellowship, White said she will “explore media coverage of school shootings and the human consequences of lockdown culture. White will produce short portraits of students, parents, and staff describing their experiences with school security, and will then share the works in a different multimedia community forums. Each forum aims to bring parents, students, and community members together with local policymakers from the Board of Education to think deeply about how to balance security with learning and how race is tied to securitization.

Prior to her academic career, White worked as a journalist on an Emmy-nominated team at NOW on PBS (formerly NOW with Bill Moyers), served as a White House intern on the Obama administration’s Broadcast Media Team, and taught elementary school as a NYC Teaching Fellow.

White is also the executive director of SOMA Justice, a community non-profit that works on issues of race and equity in South Orange and Maplewood, NJ.

White has been interviewed by the media many times throughout her career. Recent coverage includes:

The Star-Ledger, February 24, 2021, “We don’t have to scare kids while we’re trying to keep them safe | Opinion”

New York Magazine, January 25, 2021, “I Want to Meet My Teacher’: A war over reopening schools has upended the progressive politics of the New Jersey suburbs.”

The New York Times, August 3, 2020, These Conservatives Have a Laser Focus: ‘Owning the Libs’

DNYUZ, August 3, 2020, “At The Federalist, A Laser Focus on ‘Owning the Libs’”

The Star-Ledger, November 17, 2020, “Making Black Lives Matter.”

Read more about White in the following SC&I articles: “White Named a Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Fellow for 2020-2021” and “Khadijah White’s New Book Chronicles the Role of the Media in the Rise of the Tea Party.” 

Discover more about White and her research on the Rutgers School of Communication and Information website.