Clayton Rose, president of Bowdoin College (ME), writes: Selective colleges and universities are under fire in America for being too elite and too expensive, for impeding free speech, for not training graduates for the world of work, and for any number of other myths. These curious and distressing charges ignore the fact that these institutions continue to prepare students for success in their work, for thoughtful engagement in civic life, for lives of meaning, for lifelong learning and for understanding our world and those with whom we live.