The Matthew Effect and the Making of a Xavier Area Boy

Delinquent or disadvantaged? A loose theory on how Xavier's notoriety came to be.

XV (Boys) Class of 2017

I attended Loyola Jesuit College (“LJC”) - a co-ed boarding school in Nigeria - for all six years of my secondary school education. I recently found myself pondering upon one of the most influential aspects of my time in LJC: the phenomenon of the “Xavier Area Boy.”

Like most other schools, LJC had four houses, each associated with a color: Connelly House (green), Loyola House (blue), Regis House (red), and Xavier House (yellow). Much of the school was organized on a house basis. Your house was essentially your extended school family. For six years, you lived with them, ate with them, shared the same classes,¹ and competed with them against the other houses. Each house came to be known for something. Xavier was known as the miscreant of the college. More specifically, the male members of Xavier House were known as the “Xavier Area Boys.”²

The nomenclature wasn’t without basis. Even before I started JSS1 and was placed³ in Xavier House, I was aware of its lore. It was a house composed of unrepentant rule breakers. Case in point, LJC once had a house-ranking system, wherein each house would gain or lose points based on the accomplishments and conduct of its respective members. Your house won the Inter-House Sports Competition? Your house got more points. Your house had 5 of its members suspended? Your house just lost a lot of points. The standings would be periodically printed to show how each house was fairing. The highest-ranking house would win a “treat” at the end of the academic year. On treat days (usually Tuesdays), the victorious house would be served an array of what we then considered the pinnacle of culinary delicacies: fried rice, peppered chicken, meat pie, soda, cake, ice cream, and other assorted desserts. Meanwhile, the other houses would be served the usual Tuesday meal: pounded yam and vegetable soup. Do you see the gravity of the situation? Figure 1 illustrates what the standings sheet would typically look like.

Figure 1: Recreation of the Typical House Ranking

Xavier House had more reasons to lose points than to gain them. The boys were primarily responsible for all the points we lost. Even when we stopped the ranking system,⁴ there was no denying it; there always seemed to be something amiss in Xavier House. Someone was caught with smuggled liquid polish; another was apprehended while cooking Indomie in the dorm- both were considered strictly contraband. A few were nabbed dealing in lollipops (also contraband) or conducting other illicit food deals. One had racked up so many detentions that he became “the King of Report.”⁵ Someone got suspended for having a flash drive. It was always something. And then we were always late. Always late.⁶

How did the Xavier Area Boy come to be? I never gave this much thought while in LJC, but recently I came across the Matthew Effect, and it got me thinking. It refers to a pattern in which those who begin with advantage accumulate more advantage over time, and those who begin with disadvantage become more disadvantaged over time (Dannefer, 1987; O’Rand, 1996). The result is an ever-widening gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged. How does this relate to Xavier Boys? It all starts from Third Block.

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Third Block was home to all Xavier Boys. Figure 2 provides much-needed context on Third Block’s positioning as I make my case. I hypothesize that a range of factors associated with living in Third Block served as the initial disadvantages, which led to Xavier House boys being more likely to commit punishable offences and ultimately led to the creation of the Xavier Area Boy.

FIgure 2: Layout of LJC Grounds

I develop my argument below:

1.     Third Block’s position contributed to consistent lateness

Third Block’s position meant that Xavier House boys were more likely to be tardy. As demonstrated in Figure 2, Third Block was the furthest block from the singular entrance and exit to the Boy’s hostel. We were all expected to be out of the dorms by 6:25 AM in the mornings and 4:30 PM in the afternoons. There was no extra leeway afforded to Third Block residents despite their considerable distance from the gate (a ~2-minute walk). With each Xavier Boy that turned up to the gate late, more of them were put on detention, negatively impacting the house’s ranking and ultimately contributing to the narrative of Xavier as a house of miscreants.

2.     Third Block’s plumbing equally contributed to lateness and general frustration

Another peculiarity of living in Third Block was that it constantly had terrible plumbing. I never understood the root cause, but for all six years that I was a student in LJC, Third Block always had some plumbing-related challenge: we didn’t get hot water, or the water pressure was too weak, we got “black water,” or we got no water at all. The plumbing made it, so Third Block inhabitants took longer to achieve the same tasks as everyone else, mainly laundry and bathing. Especially in my junior days, it was common to see Xavier Boys scattered around First and Second block bathrooms in the morning either because they had no hot water or no water at all. To be fair, there were occasionally Hostel-wide plumbing issues; whence no block had water. In such instances, we would typically walk to the main field where a tap was located to fetch water and then walk back – buckets in hand – to our respective blocks to shower. This was a particularly arduous task that inevitably took way more time and effort for a Xavier Boy than any other person.

3.     Third Block’s distance from the main road contributed to less self-regulation

Third Block’s distance from the campus’ main road presented another issue besides lateness. As Figure 2 illustrates, Third Block was the furthest building from the main road via which the entire college would routinely traverse to and from various locations. Third’s Block distance from the road made it so that its inhabitants felt less of a need to self-regulate their activities. Consider, for example, the illegal yet evergreen pastime of “dorm soccer.” We were prohibited from playing football in the hostels.⁷ First Block inhabitants generally never broke this rule because it’d be conspicuous if they did. Second Block inhabitants were less compliant and occasionally played football in the dorms. As for Third Block inhabitants, however, they would play football in the dorms and on the field behind Third Block (labelled “Field”). Simply put, Xavier Boys had the leeway to be more carefree; this enabled them to be bolder about breaking the rules, which hurt the House’s ranking and reputation when they got caught. Now, this isn’t strictly a disadvantage, but from an incentive-design perspective, it certainly didn’t help that Xavier Boys had less motivation to self-regulate compared to other houses.

There was little to no recognition of these factors or how they contributed to Xavier Boys being more likely to be found breaking a rule. The only thing we recognized was the product of these disadvantages: the perpetual lateness, the numerous Xavier Boys on detention, the worsening ranking, all contributing to the narrative and lore of the “Xavier Area Boy.” The administration inevitably became stricter with Xavier Boys due to the negative stereotypes surrounding them. Consequently, Xavier Boys faced heightened scrutiny, which made it so that they would get put on detention for certain offences at higher rates than other house members who may have been committing such offences at similar rates. And then something interesting happens. The Xavier Boy, unable to advocate for himself (or his advocacy falling on deaf ears), decides to double down and revel in his notoriety. In a sense, they become aware of the narrative surrounding them, and they accept it. They view it as their niche and gain some sense of harmony in fulfilling said niche as the LJC society expected. After all, when people have low or negative expectations of you, it’s easier to prove them right than wrong. They aspire to fulfil the infamous persona and indoctrinate newcomers into the culture. These dynamics compound and perpetuate themselves. Figure 3 is a modest process map illustrating the entire process.

Figure 3: Process Map Illustrating the Making of a Xavier Area Boy

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My reflections are just a lighthearted theory (and a very loose one at that). However, thinking through how the Matthew Effect may have contributed to the making of the Xavier Area Boy prompted me to reflect on the plethora of instances where a person or subset of society faces initial disadvantages that snowball into debilitating circumstances and crippling narratives. I am wary of being prescriptive to any degree; still, I would encourage us to occasionally do a double take on persons and groups with negative narratives or stereotypes. We might be able to be more empathetic and extend them a bit more grace. Better, we might be able to assist in addressing the root disadvantages.

My reflections also highlighted what people in such positions should aspire to do. Albeit laughably trivial in the grand scheme of things, Xavier Boys were eventually able to get their act together. In the 2014/5 semester, we placed first in virtually all inter-house competitions- a very uncharacteristic feat for us then. It all started with a House Captain who insisted that Xavier Boys leave the hostel at 6:15 AM instead of 6:25 AM, 10 minutes earlier than the rest of the school. He raised the expectations higher for Xavier Boys on all dimensions. The point here being that putting in the extra effort to rise above the disadvantages, as difficult as it is, might be the only way forward if society is not listening attentively enough– but that’s an article for another day.

1. Till SS1/10th Grade.

2. “Area boy” is a typically pejorative Nigerian slang used to refer to young men seen on the streets. They are typically thought of as mischievous and unruly.

3. Placements in the houses were mostly random. Siblings would typically be placed in the same house, but this represented a small share of house membership.

4. Partly because Xavier could never make it back to a positive integer.

5. “Report” was how we typically referred to detention. So this fellow was the “King of Detention.”

6. As a past House Captain of Xavier House, I knew this all too well.

7. The prohibition applied to football within the entire vicinity of the Boys’ Hostel i.e., regardless of whether it was played in a room or on the grass within the hostel.