3
become widely accepted, even by those who do not share his
Wesleyan-Holiness orientation.
Smith's kaleidoscope, as opposed to a still portrait,
helps to underline the dynamic nature and shape of American
evangelicalism as a whole. In addition, this model
provides an excellent vantage point for illuminating
evangelical identity and boundaries in the Council for
Christian Colleges & Universities, which currently
functions as the primary professional association for
Christian higher education in the United States. Many of
the CCCU's aims, in fact, virtually demand that the
organization hold together a kaleidoscopic constituency.
It is no accident, for instance, that the CCCU originally
called itself a "coalition," suggesting an alliance of
disparate components that cooperates for a common cause.
3
From its roots within the Christian College Consortium, the
CCCU has developed as an increasingly variegated agency
that represents evangelical schools of different sizes,
organizational structures, lifestyles, denominational
traditions, and doctrinal allegiances. In that multi-
Variety of American Evangelicalism (Knoxville: University
of Tennessee, and Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1991).
3
The CCCU was known as the Christian College Coalition
from 1976 to 1995, when it was renamed the Coalition for
Christian Colleges & Universities. It became the Council
for Christian Colleges & Universities in 1999.