By Kim McCarrick
Staff Writer

After being criticized for their lack of diversity, Saturday Night Live has added two African American females to the sketch-writing staff – Leslie Jones and LaKendra Tookes.

SNL held auditions specifically geared towards minorities of women. At the end of auditions, there were 12 finalists. Amongst them were Leslie Jones and LaKendra Tookes, who were then hired to begin writing for SNL as of Jan. 13.

Some people are glad that SNL has hired two black female writers to the staff; however some are still wary about the idea.

The only apparent problem with this situation would be that SNL held an all-female, all-minorities audition, which could be seen as racist and sexist. These women have been segregated and chosen due to their gender and skin color. “I don’t think they should hire people based on race or gender,” senior Matt Marinelli said.

The criticism of the show’s lack of diversity may have been a major deciding factor on whom they have hired and might have been the only reason for the change. The reason for the change was not only the comments, but to additionally please critics.

If there were no comments or concerns, they would not have hired the women. So, are they really breaking barriers or are they protecting their image?