Editor in chief of Campus Current resigns

Zack+Buster%2C+a+second-year+communications+student%2C+stepped+down+as+Campus+Currents+editor-in-chief+on+March+31+to+run+for+Student+Government+Association+president.+

Dan Elson

Zack Buster, a second-year communications student, stepped down as Campus Current’s editor-in-chief on March 31 to run for Student Government Association president.

Megan Cunningham, Photo Editor

The editor-in-chief of AACC’s student newspaper resigned March 31 to run for Student Government Association president.
Zack Buster, who has been editor of Campus Current since fall 2022, left the paper to prevent a conflict of interest as he begins his campaign for SGA president.
“The student body needs a bridge between them and college decision-makers,” Buster, a second-year communications student, said. “I want to be that bridge. They need someone who will fight for them.”
Buster, who started as Campus Current’s associate editor in January 2022, said his experience at the paper “really taught me the importance of teamwork and how to take all of these different parts and people and bring them all together to make a common goal.”
He added: “As editor, I built a lot of really good connections with all the departments and so that sort of network, of not just faculty, but students as well … that’s kind of really, really important, especially if I want to be like a bridge between the administration and the student body.”
Sharon O’Malley, faculty adviser for Campus Current, called Buster “a born leader.”
O’Malley, a journalism professor, said, “He’s done a fantastic job as editor-in-chief and shown great leadership skills, networking skills, negotiation skills. … So it’s bittersweet for me. I really like having him at Campus Current as the editor, and I hate to see him go. … But I think he’s going to thrive in whatever’s next for him, and I wish him well.”

Managing Editor Sam Gauntt will take Buster’s place as editor-in-chief for the rest of the semester.
Gauntt, who was the newspaper’s associate editor starting in August 2022, attends AACC and is also a homeschooled high school senior.
“I’m very excited to lead a great team of student journalists,” Gauntt said. “We have some truly amazing reporters, photographers, graphic designers. … I’ve had a great working relationship with Zack. And even though I’m sad to see him go, I really just want whatever is best for him and his career.”
Buster said being editor helped him become a “finger-on-the-pulse type of person.”
Presidential nominees can campaign from April 10-28. Elections start May 1 and go until May 5.

This story has been edited to reflect a timeline change for the SGA elections.