For the past two years, all 20 of the nominations in the top categories of the Academy Awards went to white actors and actresses. This year, seven of the the 20 nominations went to non-white actors and actresses.

Marking the most diverse year in the history of the awards, the academy is receiving praise for increasing recognition of non-white actors after the outcry online directed at the lack of diversity in last year’s nominees.

After the announcement of nominations for the most prestigious award show in the industry, the hashtag “#OscarsSoWhite” started trending on Twitter. This lead many actors to boycott the show. Most notably, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith and Spike Lee did not attend the ceremony to condemn the academy for its lack of diversity.

The academy took strides to make its membership more diverse in the past year by removing inactive members from their “active” status to make room for a more diverse group of members. The move, while controversial, has already had an effect on the diversity of nominations. However more diverse nominations may only be the first step.

The night of the awards will tell whether the increase of nominations will actually lead to more non-white actors being awarded for their work. If only white actors and actresses actually receive awards, even though there are several deserving actors of color, it will show that the academy still has room for improvement.