Cindy Smock, a popular evangelical Christian preacher known as “Sister Cindy,” visited LSU’s Free Speech Alley on Monday and Tuesday to encourage modest dress, abstinence from alcohol and abstinence from premarital sex.
Smock has become a bit of a celebrity around American universities. Videos of her preaching have gone viral on TikTok and her appearance at LSU garnered a large, excited crowd. TikToks of Smock preaching at universities have garnered tens of millions of views. One of her at LSU this past week already has 66,000 views.
Through Campus Ministry USA, Smock and her husband, Jed, have been preaching at various American universities, including LSU, for decades — though not with the same level of fame Sister Cindy has attracted in recent years.
A crowd had gathered in a circle for 20 minutes before Smock arrived after seeing her Instagram story post saying “HONOMO TIME @LSU 2/21-22 @Noon, Free Speech Alley,” and abbreviation for “hoe no more.” Students roared with cheer and applause as she walked up to begin her preaching.
“There are still a lot of hoes here at Louisiana Slut University,” said Smock to the crowd of about 150 students.
She would ask questions pertaining to the Bible, waiting for students to shout out the right answer. The first student to yell the answer would receive a button saying “Ho No Mo,” sometimes even autographing the button and taking a picture with the winner in front of the crowd.
“By the way, if you have class, skip it, and show your ‘Ho No Mo’ button’ to your professor,” Smock said.
A focus of her beliefs center around what she calls “slut shaming,” and she’d tell stories of her scandalous days in college to serve as an example of what not to do. She also believes in the existence of what she calls “vampire hoes” that want to “suck the blood of Jesus right out of you.”
“Sister Cindy is now a gay icon,” Smock said, referring to herself. “I love the gays, but not in a gay way.”
Fifty yards away from Smock sat Ivan Imes, an 81-year-old Christian who sits in a purple fold-up chair in Free Speech Alley wearing a white T-shirt that says “Jesus Talk.” He’s been talking to college students about Jesus for about 15 years.
“For some reason, they [the Smocks] believe that it’s their calling to help people spiritually by engaging in some sort of combative, argumentative sort of thing,” Imes said.
Unlike most preachers and religious missionaries who visit campus, Imes believes in passive teaching and doesn’t approach students, letting them notice his shirt and decide whether or not they want to engage in discussion. He has more students approach him when Smock visits.
“The numbers are generally a few more people because they are upset or angry and want to diffuse themselves,” Imes said.
The College of Democrats club tabled in Free Speech Alley on Tuesday across from Smock. They usually have a whiteboard sign with a political yes-or-no question written on the front to engage students in friendly debate. That day, their question was, “Should Sister Cindy get some bitches?”
Two marble jars sat on the club’s table, one marked “yes” and the other “no,” in response to the question. Almost all marbles were in the “yes” jar after one hour.
Economics freshman Page Gray, member of the club, held up the sign. He says Smock laughed at the sign as he held it up among the audience. He tried to get her to autograph the whiteboard, but she declined.
“It was meant as a provocative question to get people riled up, kind of the same way how Sister Cindy does it,” Gray said.
Many students find Smock’s sermons entertaining and funny, as she uses jarring language to draw crowds.
Electrical engineering junior Terrell Kimbeng remembers when Sister Cindy visited campus a couple years ago, and he said she was “clucking like a chicken” then. Watching her visit campus now in 2022, Kimbeng still believes she provides good entertainment.
“College gets stressful sometimes. That’s what the parade ground is for: clowns. This’ll make us come to college more because we want to see this stuff,” Kimbeng said.
He said his day was made from seeing the viral preacher, and that he doesn’t miss a day of school so that he has the opportunity to see all of the interesting events that transpire across campus.
“They [the Smocks] should start charging tickets around here,” Kimbeng said while pointing to the large crowd of students.
Chemical engineering freshman William Guffey stood watching Smock preaching for three hours, yet he believes her teachings accomplish nothing, and only make people want to “be hoes even more.”
“I think Cindy’s teachings are funny to listen to but should not be taken to heart,” Guffey said. “I think she preaches toxic masculinity and encourages women to be very hidden with their personalities.”
Students like Guffey sat in the humid, hot weather for hours to hear Smock speak. Guffey said he was “drenched in sweat,” but enjoys the comedy that the preacher brings to campus.
Biological science freshman Liz Diaz also doesn’t believe Sister Cindy is effective in shifting students’ beliefs, especially because she believes current college students are part of a progressive generation.
“I think they’re extremely outdated. It seems like they’re saying the most controversial things just to get a rise out of people,” Diaz said.
Diaz says most religious people don’t agree with Sister Cindy due to the extremity of her beliefs.
Sister Cindy draws a large crowd on Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, in Free Speech Plaza on LSU’s Campus in Baton Rouge, La.
