"The Attack on Affirmative Action: Political Context and Unanticipated Consequences" is the title of a talk that will be presented at Colby College by Troy Duster of the University of California, Berkeley. Colby's annual Kingsley Birge Sociology Lecture will begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 22, in the Robins Room in Colby's Roberts Building. Duster is chancellor's professor of sociology and director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change at the University of California, Berkeley. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Duster is the grandson of journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who achieved nationwide attention as leader of the anti-lynching crusade. He is the author of many books, monographs and articles that deal with ethical, legal and social issues in science as well as race and culture. He is a member of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research, the board of directors of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the American Association for the Advancement of Science's advisory committee on human germ-line interventions. Duster has served as chair of the advisory committee on ethical, legal and social issues in the Human Genome Project.

The Birge Lecture was established in 1981 in honor of Kingsley Harlow Birge, Colby professor of sociology, with donations from his students, friends and colleagues. The fund brings speakers to campus who give public lectures relating to the human experience and human potential.