The radical evangelical Christian preacher Cindy Smock, better known as “Sister Cindy,” came to the university earlier this week, encouraging students to skip class to watch her performance.
Smock has become a celebrity over the past year, amassing millions of views on TikTok from her controversial speeches that include sexist and homophobic comments.
Smock visits college campuses nationwide to slut shame college students for their outfits and make sexist comments about women who drink margaritas. She is openly homophobic and condemns “sluts,” feminists and non-Christians to hell.
Smock had a large number of LSU students attend her speeches last week in Free Speech Alley, some of whom actually skipped class to hear her sexist and homophobic comments. The large crowds Smock draws only encourages her harmful behavior.
“It makes me feel really weird when there are big crowds around her because all she preaches is hate. It’s weird that students support it,” animal science and technology junior Caroline Babin said. “There were crowds for Sister Cindy before she even got there. The crowd of students were chanting for Sister Cindy, waiting for her to call them a whore.”
Babin and digital advertising junior Leigh Auzenne briefly walked past Smock’s speech as they were trying to enter the Student Union.
As they walked past the large crowd of onlookers, they noticed many students participating in her speeches and even getting merchandise that said “ho no mo,” Smock’s catchphrase explaining how she became “pure” after accepting Jesus following her “hoe” years in college.
“I understand the joke behind it,” Auzenne said,“but I don’t know if Sister Cindy knows we were making fun of her.”
Smock has thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok. Her TikTok account has over six million likes and almost 400,000 followers, and her Instagram account has over 11,000 followers. Smock profits largely off her sexist and homophobic comments, as students continue to support her.
Even though some take it as a joke, her comments could really trigger others. Smock has been a radical evangelical preacher for years now. She does not see her comments as a joke. Her radicalism is her job. In the past year, college students have been rewarding Smock’s sexist speech with fame and money, enabling her to travel across the country.
Auzenne said that Smock called her a whore for wearing a t-shirt and ripped jeans.
“It can be very triggering for students who have serious sexual trauma,” Auzenne said. “When do we draw the line? How much can she say until it doesn’t become a joke anymore?”
The line should’ve been drawn a long time ago. While free speech is important, campus visitors should not be allowed to verbally abuse students as they walk to class, and other students should not be encouraging that behavior.
Students need to realize that the joke behind supporting “Sister Cindy” really is just not that funny—and certainly not worth the cost of amplifying Smock’s harmful rhetoric.
Kacey Buercklin is a 20-year-old political communications senior from Murrayville, GA.
Sister Cindy draws a large crowd on Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, in Free Speech Plaza on LSU’s Campus in Baton Rouge, La.
