Evangelist and influencer Cindy Smock, known as Sister Cindy, appeared in front of Tate Hall at the University of Minnesota on Monday afternoon. From noon to 4 p.m., she preached to a fluctuating crowd of around a hundred about the dangers of premarital sex, “immorality” and the necessity of “good old-fashioned slut shaming.”

According to the Sunflower news, Sister Cindy rose to fame on TikTok in 2021 after students posted videos of her preaching on University grounds. But Sister Cindy traveled the country for 46 years before that, according to one of the volunteers assisting her. 

Sister Cindy, 66, had been traveling the country since she left her promising journalism student career at 20 to preach with her late husband Jed Smock, also known as Brother Jed, according to the Sunflower article.

Sister Cindy first met her husband when he arrived at the University of Florida in the late 1970s and called her out while he was preaching.

“He pointed me out of the crowd and said, ‘Repent of your sins, you wicked woman’ so I became a Christian a year later,” Sister Cindy said. 

After Cindy became a Christian, the two began traveling and preaching on college campuses. They eventually got married and had five children.

Sister Cindy said her husband began preaching on college campuses in 1972 and did so for 50 years. He died in 2022. 

Sister Cindy said the first time she visited the University of Minnesota campus was in the spring of 1979, where she preached with her husband by Northrop. She said around 1980 there was a Sister Cindy lookalike contest at the University, which included “boys putting on dresses and wigs” and attempting to capture her likeness.

“We had big crowds up there, bigger than even here today,” Sister Cindy said. “You could probably find pictures of my husband and me.”

Now, Sister Cindy travels the country during the school year and preaches in a manner that is subject to intense criticism. Bystanders cheer her every word, but historically the cheers and questions have been almost entirely satirical. 

“The general theme of this talk has been ‘to not be hoes’,” a spectator said at the event. “It got less funny and more biblical as time passed.”

Sister Cindy said she came to the University as part of a three-month tour visiting college campuses and spreading the word of God. She was joined by Sister Kathy, her social media and travel assistant, and five volunteers from Minnesota.

“I just spent a week in Wisconsin, the week before that in Michigan, and now I’m in Minnesota,” Sister Cindy said. “Tomorrow, I’m actually going to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, then Minnesota State University on Wednesday, and then St. Cloud State University on Thursday.”

Sister Cindy said she is not breaking any rules on University free speech as she travels alone or with Sister Kathy from campus to campus.

“We’re not hosted,” Sister Cindy said. “We’re just exercising free speech.”

Sister Cindy’s quotes

The Minnesota Daily has compiled a list of quotes observed by reporters and bystanders Monday afternoon to attempt to capture some of Sister Cindy’s rhetorical energy.

• “You’re gonna go to hell for studying psychology,” Sister Cindy said.

• “She stole my margarita sermon and put it into a nasty song,” Sister Cindy said referencing the “One Margarita” song by That Chick Angel, a fanmade remix of a Sister Cindy speech.

• “I could’ve been in the bar and passed around. What would I do if I got HIV?”

• “The epitome of women is a wet ass pussy. Some women call men at night to bring a bucket and a mop.”

• “You’re not a product of your environment. That isn’t biblical.”

• “A lot of men are just penises with arms and legs.”

• “She wore the suit? She was totally into loving women.”

• “She loved doing the lesbian sex,” Sister Cindy added.

• “Are you doing the sex with your boyfriend? That’s a sin!”

• “In that moment, she had just a flicker of heterosexual desire, and it was enough.”

• “Penis! Penis, vagina!” 

• “You don’t smoke the weed anymore?”

• “Ladies, was anyone here born with a penis? And you’re men?”

• “Was anyone born smoking a joint of marijuana? Was anyone here born with a bottle of beer?”

• “Is that what life is about? Having orgasms?”

• “Ladies, you’ve been tricked into wearing the hoe chain! Give it back to Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion!”

• “This is the second Muslim virgin around here!”

• “You’re not a virgin in your heart. You’re a freak… moving right along.”

The comment about being a freak was not directed at the person who was Muslim. That was a comment to a different self-reported virgin.

How it went

Sister Cindy’s preaching took the form of a laugh-filled Q&A session, where students surrounded Sister Cindy on a folding chair. Sister Cindy added she is “preaching, not praying.”

Around 1:30 p.m., a spectator ran up and waved to Sister Cindy.

“I got kicked out of Christian school for having too much gay sex!” the spectator shouted. Sister Cindy ignored the spectator.

Around 2 p.m., Sister Cindy attempted to shift her preaching from a Q&A session to a group prayer. A few people began to mutter, and after a minute she went back to fielding questions.

“I’m old, I trigger people, but I’m trying to be inclusive out here,” Sister Cindy said during her event. 

After she finished speaking, Sister Cindy was swarmed by students who wanted photos with her, participating in group photos as well as selfies. Throughout the event, students recorded videos and took photos of her while she spoke.

“I think today, there were some good questions, and you could tell some students were really thinking and considering,” Sister Cindy said. “They were generally congenial and respectful, and I appreciate that.”

For the final hour of the event, Sister Kathy told stories of her past of substance use, sexual urges and mental health issues. She explained how it eventually led her to her current religious beliefs. Sister Kathy said she preferred to be known only as “Kathy F” due to privacy issues in the past.

There was a large and engaged audience of students applauding, cheering and booing along with Sister Kathy’s stories, including a “HO NO MO” chant.

Minor student altercation

After the event, an individual approached Sister Cindy as she was packing up. They asked the Minnesota Daily to keep their identity anonymous.

The individual said she politely asked Sister Cindy what her motivation was for speaking on college campuses. 

“I was trying to see if Sister Cindy believed she was actually making an impact,” they said. “But then she started telling me that I was going to hell and then started calling me a liar, even though I was being polite from the start.”

The individual criticized Sister Cindy for judging others. Sister Cindy raised her voice at the individual.

“Stop judging my judging, you hypocrite,” Sister Cindy said.

Sister Cindy began to walk away while telling the individual to “get right with God.”

What students said

First-year student Ethan Kraayeveld said he was at the event to see what Sister Cindy was all about. He said he heard a lot of people talk about Sister Cindy’s extreme beliefs and wanted to see what she was saying.

Kraayeveld, who was sitting at the front of the event for an hour, joined hands with students in a small prayer circle that Sister Cindy formed toward the end of her monologue. 

“A lot of people laugh at what she says because it is kind of funny, and that’s most of the reason why I stayed,” Kraayeveld said. 

Third-year student Ashley Sudeta said Sister Cindy’s rhetoric is potentially dangerous, although most do not take it seriously.

“People are giving her a platform, specifically because it’s funny,” Sudeta said. “Some of the stuff she says is pretty outrageous, but it has this undertone that women are pretty much evil.”

Sudeta said Sister Cindy’s platform will generate attention, but it is hard to measure the impact of that platform.

“No matter what, there’s gonna be people sitting around her,” Sudeta said. “But I definitely don’t think it’s bad to write about this woman who’s coming to campus and drawing a crowd and yelling at students.”

Editor’s note: Students Emily Passalaqua, Rowan Smith and Alexis Knott were present and contributed quotes to this story.