This semester was full of learning experiences, to say the least. 

We pulled this special issue together despite the odds: ongoing staffing changes, a dearth of writers and an extremely constrained timeline were just a few of the challenges we faced. In previous years, Under the Arch editors combed through hundreds of student nominations over the course of a semester — this year, we scrambled to compile this list in only a fraction of that time. Between Fringe — our previous special issue — and this one, there was a turnover of only two and a half weeks. Yet the polished final product would never suggest that this was the case.  

Our theme this year deals with bold topics: sex positivity, sexuality and liberation. We wanted to talk about subjects that are sometimes considered transgressive by highlighting people who initiate these conversations. Through this, we hope to promote confidence, empowerment and self-love.

To our incredible subjects, Alyssa LaFosse, Aneesa Julmice, Ian Partman, Tara Jones, Tori Husain and Victoria Abraham — thank you for sharing your stories with us and entrusting us to tell them. Your confidence, candidness and vulnerability are the hallmarks of this project. In a similar vein, a huge thanks to our writers, Aleksandra Goldberg, Elle Liu, Jules Roscoe, Kevin Kurian, Lorraine Olaya and Rachel Mashambanhaka for taking on this project on such short notice and producing such amazing results.

Shoutout to our UTA elders Pamela Jew and Finley Muratova for helping us streamline this process. Your guidance has saved us from many sleepless nights and meltdowns. Well, more than usual, anyway. And of course, nothing would be possible without the rest of our incredible management team: Ashley Wu, Alexandra Chan, Alex Tey and Trace Miller, who have worked tirelessly all semester to make this newspaper a must-read.  

We also owe all our thanks to our creative directors Susan Behrends Valenzuela and Charitssa Stone for creating the beautiful layout for this issue. You two really brought our vision to life, and we are constantly stunned by your talent. 

Our UTA staff continues to impress us with their skills and dedication. All our love goes out to Brooke Nguyen, Ivy Zhu, Julian Hammond Santander, Kiersten Dugan and Mariam Khan. Special thanks to Brooke, Julian and our contributing photographers for pulling off an absolutely stunning photo shoot.

We hope that Influentials 2021 shows that UTA is still striving to tell big stories — even the taboo ones.