Evolution of the University Model at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) of Nicaragua: between Exclusionary Somocismo and Revolutionary Sandinismo (1960-1982)

Abstract

Objective: Examine the evolution of the university model of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), manifested in its political affiliation, mission, and social projection, to understand its position in relation to society and the political processes in Nicaragua during the period under study, especially the transition from Somocismo to Sandinismo.

Originality/contribution: The bond between the university model and the political model in Nicaragua is evident, especially in the transformations that arose with the radical change from an authoritarian regime to a revolutionary government. Furthermore, this study focuses on a private university, an original setting, since most research on Central American higher education focuses on the analysis of state universities.

Method: A content analysis was carried out on official documents issued by the UCA authorities, articles published in cultural magazines by intellectual members of the UCA, as well as legislation by national authorities regarding higher education policies.

Strategy/Data collection: Issues published by Revista Académica de la Universidad Centroamericana and  Revista del Pensamiento Conservador were reviewed. Along with this, inaugural lessons, work reports by the UCA rectorate, the Official Gazette of Nicaragua, and decrees issued by the National Reconstruction Board were examined

Conclusions: We identified a conservative Catholic discourse, with a humanist approach and a nationalist revaluation in the early years of the UCA, during the Somoza era. The anti-communist discourse imparted by its authorities and the intention to confront atheistic Marxist materialism with a Christian system of thought is evident. The intention is to promote a Catholic value system in accordance with the developmentalist policy, thus humanizing society. Towards the 1970s, a more critical stance on the social question appeared and the intellectuals of the UCA resorted to a more active Christianity that sought to transform Nicaraguan society based on the analysis of national problems. With the Sandinista triumph in 1979, the discourse of the UCA aligned itself with the revolutionary project, affirming its mission as an instrument for the creation of the "new man" and placing teachers and students at the service of the interests of the revolution.