Cindy Smock, a popular evangelical Christian preacher known as “Sister Cindy,” visited LSU’s Free Speech Alley Monday and Tuesday to encourage modest dress, abstinence from alcohol and abstinence from sex before the wedding.

Smock has become something of a celebrity in American colleges. Videos of his preaching went viral on TikTok and his appearance at LSU drew a large and enthusiastic crowd.

Thanks to Campus Ministry USA, Smock and her husband, Jeb, have been preaching at various American universities, including LSU, for decades — but not with the same level of fame that Sister Cindy has attracted in recent years.

A crowd had gathered in a circle for 20 minutes until Smock arrived after seeing his post on his Instagram story saying “HONOMO TIME @LSU 2/21-22 @Noon, Free Speech Alley”. The students roared with joy and applause as she approached to begin her sermon.

“There are still a lot of hoes here at Louisiana Slut University,” Smock told the crowd of about 150 students.

She would ask Bible-related questions, waiting for the students to shout out the correct answer. The first student to shout 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 teacher,” Smock said.

A focus of her beliefs centers on what she calls “slut shaming”, and she tells stories of her scandalous college days to serve as an example of what not to do. She also believes in the existence of what she calls “vampire hoes” who want to “suck the blood of Jesus straight out of you”.

“Sister Cindy is now a gay icon,” Smock said. “I like gays, but not in a gay way.”

50 yards from Smock sat Ivan Imes, an 81-year-old Christian who sits in a purple folding chair in Free Speech Alley wearing a white T-shirt that says “Jesus Talk”. He has been talking about Jesus to students for about 15 years.

“For some reason they [Smock] believe it’s their calling to help people spiritually by engaging in a combative, argumentative kind of thing,” Imes said.

Unlike most preachers and religious missionaries who visit campus, Imes believes in passive teaching and does not approach students, letting them notice his shirt and decide whether or not they want to engage in a discussion. He has more students approaching him when Smock visits.

“The numbers are usually a few more people because they’re upset or angry and want to broadcast,” Imes said.

The College of Democrats club filed in Free Speech Aisle across from Smock on Tuesday. They usually have a whiteboard with a yes or no political question written on the front to engage students in friendly debate. Their question that day was “Should sister Cindy have female dogs?”

Two marble pots sat on the club table, one marked ‘yes’ and the other ‘no’, in response to the question. Almost all the marbles were in the “yes” pot after one hour.

First-year economics student Page Gray, a member of the club, held up the sign. He says Smock mocked the sign as he held it up among the audience. He tried to get her to autograph the whiteboard, but she refused.

“It was a provocative question to piss people off, kind of the way Sister Cindy does,” Gray said.

Many students find Smock’s sermons entertaining and fun.

Terrell Kimbeng, an electrical engineering junior, remembers Sister Cindy visiting campus a few years ago, and he said she was “cluckling like a chicken” at the time. Watching her tour the campus now in 2022, Kimbeng still believes she provides good entertainment.

“College can get stressful sometimes. That’s what parade grounds are for: clowns. It will make us come to college more because we want to see this stuff,” Kimbeng said.

He said his day was made seeing the viral preacher and he didn’t miss a day of school to have the opportunity to see all the interesting happenings happening on campus.

“They [Smock] should start charging for tickets here,” Kimbeng said, gesturing to the large crowd of students.

Freshman chemical engineering student William Guffey watched Smock preach for three hours, but he thinks his teachings accomplish nothing and only make people want to “be more hoes.”

“I think Cindy’s teachings are fun to listen to but shouldn’t be taken to heart,” Guffey said. “I think she preaches toxic masculinity and encourages women to be very hidden with their personality.”

Students like Guffey sat in 80-degree weather for hours to hear Smock speak. Guffey said he was “soaked in sweat,” but enjoys the comedy the preacher brings to campus.

Freshman bioscience student Liz Diaz also doesn’t believe Sister Cindy is effective in changing students’ beliefs, particularly because she believes current students are part of a progressive generation.

“I think they are extremely outdated. It seems like they say the most controversial things just to get people up to speed,” Diaz said.

Diaz says most religious people disagree with Sister Cindy because of the extremity of her beliefs.