FARMINGTON – A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on college admissions last week will have no effect locally, says a University of Maine at Farmington official.

The ruling said race could be used as a factor in accepting students into college, but assigning points or values to candidates based on their race can’t.

Tom Donaghue, the school’s director of public information, says the ruling will have “virtually no impact” at the Farmington college.

The word virtually, he says, is because race does play a factor in certain federal and state minority scholarship programs that UMF administers, for example the Native American Waiver Program.

But, when it comes to accepting students, the admissions department will consider the same factors they always have, such as academic success in high school, extra-curricular activities, recommendations, a written essay and an interview.

SAT scores are not even required for UMF admission, however, the school does review them if they are submitted.

According to Donaghue, race is not used as a determining factor in admission and the school has never offered points based on race, as was the case at the University of Michigan.

In most cases, the admission committee is not even aware of an applicant’s race, although a question pertaining to race must appear on the University of Maine System application as mandated by federal law although fewer and fewer students actually answer that question, he says.

A percentage of the number of minority students in the 2000-plus person student body was unavailable, but the college prides itself on offering a diverse atmosphere for students from around 20 different countries.

There is a campus diversity committee as well as several student organizations that encourage diversity including the UMF International Club, which works to enhance cross-cultural understanding on campus and in the community, and the Rainbow Educational Alliance of Diverse Individuals, which works to raise awareness and appreciation for diversity through education and social outreach.

“UMF attracts students from different ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, geographical areas, ages and religious beliefs, which contribute to the quality of university life,” says the school’s admission department Web site.

sdepoy@sunjournal.com