A former editor of AACC’s student newspaper has won a Pinnacle Award for a story about a professor who was suspended after a student filed a restraining order against him.

Tomi Brunton, who served as editor-in-chief of Campus Current during the 2023-2024 school year, wrote the article, “Professor suspended over student’s claims,” which appeared on the front page of the newspaper’s October 2024 edition.

“It was a complicated and intense story to report, but that made it all the more fulfilling,” said Brunton, who became a newspaper contributor and the managing editor of AACC’s student arts journal, Amaranth, during the 2024-2025 school year.

Brunton studied court documents filed by the student, who alleged she met business professor Reb Beatty when she took his class as a high school student dual-enrolled at AACC. She said she later moved into Beatty’s house but fled, accusing Beatty of manipulating her, turning her against her parents and preventing her from leaving, according to court documents.

Brunton also interviewed Beatty via email and attempted to reach the student, who did not return calls.

Before publishing the article, Brunton and the newspaper’s faculty adviser, journalism professor Sharon O’Malley, consulted with a lawyer from the Student Press Law Center, who advised them to stick to public documents when citing accusations and to quote Beatty only when he referred to himself and not to the student.

The article won third place for breaking news in the Pinnacle competition, which draws thousands of entries from colleges and universities all over the country. Brunton competed in the community college category.

The Pinnacle Awards, sponsored by the College Media Association, and the Pacemaker, from Associated Collegiate Press, are widely recognized as the “Pulitzer Prizes of college journalism,” O’Malley said.

This is Campus Current’s second Pinnacle. The newspaper has been a Pacemaker finalist twice.