Given the importance of moving diversity agendas forward nationally and the lack of understanding about how to address the politics that almost always emerge when institutionalizing a diversity initiative, the author examined the method by which college presidents handled the politics related to moving a diversity agenda forward. She focused on college presidents because they are usually at the center of politics and because they are one of the most important leaders in efforts to institutionalize diversity initiatives. In this article, she argues that political theories of change are a particularly important but underutilized perspective for understanding change related to diversity within the higher education environment. The overall study explores presidential leadership in moving a diversity agenda forward, including key strategies, presidential leadership style, institutional context and culture, and phases of institutionalization. She focuses on the way presidents negotiated "the politics" of diversity and addresses two research questions: How and in what ways do presidents find that moving a diversity agenda forward is a political process, and what is the nature of the politics? What strategies do presidents use to negotiate a political environment and create change? (Contains 8 notes.)