*A previous version of this article stated The Hornet had not won an Online Pacemaker in a certain number of years. We were unable to verify the correct amount of years, and we regret this error and lack of attention to detail.*

The Hornet won the 2024 Online Pacemaker for two-year campuses along with the El Don of Santa Ana College at the Associated College Press Conference Awards on Saturday, March 9 in La Jolla, San Diego.

“The design, along with how much we were producing, and most importantly the quality is what got us to winning that award,” said The Hornet managing editor Sara Leon. “Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better team to win it with, it was just amazing. I was tearing up when we got that award.”

Apart from the pacemaker award, The Hornet and Inside Fullerton left with numerous other awards.

“The Hornet’s standard requires hard work. It requires our search for the truth and it requires us to do all that is required to make things happen,” said The Hornet editor-in-chief Jake Rhodes. “I think it’s really important that our work ethic stays strong and we continue to be the best student journalists we can be.”

During the ceremony, Rhodes was also elected as the new JACC SoCal student director taking the title from Leon who was the 2023 SoCal student director. As director, he will represent every community college journalist in JACC in the region of Southern California.

Another memorable moment for Leon and The Hornet was winning second place along with former Hornet photographer Jose Vazquez for ACP Best Of Show under the category of Broadcast: Feature Story on the indie film “Nowhere.”

The ACP Best Of Show awards are awards that the colleges in attendance of the conference compete in to win at the individual and staff level.

Fullerton College’s student magazine Inside Fullerton also received important recognition by winning third place for ACP Best Of Show under the category Feature Magazine along with six other two-year college campuses.

“Best of show is more of a recognition because JACC is just between community colleges in California but ACP is national,” said Inside Fullerton editor-in-chief Mikey Moran.

Receiving national recognition, students from The Hornet and Inside Fullerton were awarded with multiple honors at the JACC/ACP Spring National College Media Conference ceremony. (Bryan Chavez)

There was also an individual award given to Inside Fullerton managing editor Arianna Pastrana whose story on The Asian Student Dilemma won eighth place under the category of “Reporting: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”

“Eighth place may not sound interesting, but when you’re competing against Ivy leagues and many other schools across the nation, it feels very rewarding,” Pastrana said.

Pastrana said that she is thankful to all the editors of Inside Fullerton who gave her a life-changing experience and guidance on her journey.

JACC and ACP conferences are held every semester. JACC is held at state and regional level whereas ACP is held at national level. This year, both welcomed over 800 students. Of those, 251 are JACC students from 27 member schools.

These conferences help college students who are pursuing or are involved in the field of journalism meet, connect, and network with other fellow journalists and bond more with the team they work with.

“I think as a group we got a lot closer by spending time away from society a little bit by being in a different world. I hope we all learned lessons from the workshops that can be applied to our day-to-day here at The Hornet,” said Rhodes.

Rhodes hopes to transfer to Cal State University, Long Beach or Cal State University, Fullerton to continue in his journalism career and dedicate himself as a sports writer. Leon has been accepted into CSUF, but still hopes to be accepted into USC or Stanford for the fall 2024 semester where she plans to join the school’s newspaper and continue to contribute as she does to The Hornet.

Moran is pursuing an associate degree in fashion journalism and fashion merchandising. He said he hopes to continue as editor-in-chief for Inside Fullerton until he graduates. Pastrana said she expects to graduate this spring and transfer to CSUF to earn a B.A. in communications. She aspires to work as a freelance writer for a local magazine or as a copywriter.

ACP Awards

2024 Online Pacemaker / Two-year campuses – The Hornet

Second Place – Best of Show / Broadcast Feature Story – Sara Leon, Jose Vazquez

Third Place – Feature Magazine / Two year campuses – Inside Fullerton

Fourth Place – Best of Show / Feature Photo – Ciara Gonzalez

Fifth Place – Best Website / Two-year campuses – The Hornet

Eight Place – Best of Show/Reporting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Arianna Pastrana

Honorable Mention / Video Advertising – Ryan Billings, Julianne Le, Andrea Ruzicka

JACC Awards

Online General Excellence – The Hornet Staff

Magazine General Excellence – Inside Fullerton Staff

Meritorious / Multimedia Journalism Package – Guadalupe Gonzalez, Romina Gonzalez, Cesar Garcia, Ronette Johnson

Second Place / Profile – Guadalupe Gonzalez, Pedro Saravia

Second Place / Magazine Cover – Irene Kang

Second Place / Magazine Layout – Irene Kang

Second Place / Photo Illustration – Pedro Saravia

Second Place / Video Hard News Reporting – Brian Mack

Second Place / Informational Graphic – Arianna Pastrana, Irene Kang

Third Place / Podcast Audio News – Che Womack, Brian Mack, Jake Rhodes, Quinn Cisneros

Third Place / Feature Photo– Cesar Garcia

Fourth Place / Feature Photo – Ciara Gonzalez

Fourth Place / Critical Review – Sara Leon, Jose Vazquez

Honorable Mention / Sports Game Story – Quinn Cisneros

Honorable Mention / Magazine News Feature – Paulina Alonso