Research intensive universities have important roles in society and cannot be valued solely on the basis of their contribution to economic growth. Their activities are only part of the diverse spectrum of the higher education system which advanced societies need. League tables of universities discourage diversity, distort the goals of higher education institutions and grossly simplify the transmission of knowledge and the advancement of learning. Universities are complex clusters of networks of individual active learners engaged to their mutual benefit in a variety of ways with the rest of society through a myriad of equally complex network of active learners. These engagements are beneficial provided that they do not distort the roles of universities. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure, and 2 notes.)