To receive the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, campuses must provide extensive documentation indicating a commitment to institutionalizing community engagement. When they do so, the Carnegie Foundation recognizes community engagement as part of the institutional identity of the campus. The Community Engagement Classification was designed to augment the basic classification (which all campuses receive) in a way that encouraged campus innovation and change. Based on our review of hundreds of applications for the classification, we propose that the Carnegie Foundation was not only encouraging campus change, but that the design of the classification suggests a theory of how institutionalization of community engagement happens. When working with campuses applying for the classification, we have found that understanding the theory of change implied by the classification has helped focus attention on the importance of locating community engagement in the core academic cultures, policies, structures, and practices of the campus.