The School of Architecture received and accepted an invitation from the Nicaraguan government in January 1974 to assist in reconstructing the earthquake-stricken city of Managua. The 1972 two-and-one-half-hour earthquake measuring 6.25 on the Richter scale had left ten thousand Nicaraguans dead and half of its residents homeless. The architecture school sent 10 fourth-year design students, led by Dr. Joseph Kersavage, to aid in reconstruction in a pilot project. Students received 15 credit hours for the quarter’s work, and the School of Architecture agreed to underwrite any expenses for which the students could not pay.
The program was subsequently expanded, allowing 12 students to participate and also allowing students in other disciplines to join, with a 12-month commitment to the project. UT entered into a 15-year contract with Nicaragua to provide assistance. The students pioneered the use of tensile structures for housing, churches, exhibition halls, stores, and other purposes. In late 1974 Mick Jagger met with the UT architecture group and officials for FUNDE, a large church charitable organization, to discuss the possibility of donating the money raised from a concert to benefit Nicaragua. He and his wife Biana (a Nicaraguan) gave the money to FUNDE, and FUNDE decided to pass the funds on to build two hundred units of low-cost housing, an area of emphasis (design and construction supervision) for the UT architecture project.
An architecture class designed the layout for the 1976 International Trade Fair, held in Managua, and another architecture class designed the National Pavilion.
The program was abruptly terminated in September 1978 because of escalated civil unrest in Nicaragua.