On Monday, Feb. 7, the University of Florida’s campus was greeted by another preacher. But this one was different. Her sentiments were the same; she practices a Christian lifestyle and thinks you should too. But one thing is surely different with this preacher. Perhaps, it could be the near hundreds of students who crowded around her.
Cindy Lasseter Smock, or Sister Cindy as she is known on TikTok, paid an afternoon visit to the Plaza of the Americas. Her fan base is broad, with nearly 370,000 followers on the video-sharing platform. Smock prides herself on her traditional Christian beliefs; one of her popular slogans is “Be a Ho No Mo,” advising young girls to remain conservative. A former journalism student at UF, Smock now travels to varying college campuses in Florida to share her beliefs. Smock’s most recent presence at UF brought a wave of controversy.
“It makes me a little uncomfortable to see that kind of thing on campus even though it’s allowed,” Violet McLaren said. “I was not thrilled about it even though a lot of my friends think it’s really funny to watch her.”
McLaren, 20, is an anthropology major at UF, where she frequently encounters activists and visitors on campus. She maintains that Smock’s large gathering on Monday was unnecessary.
“Everything I’ve heard about her — just that she’s racist and homophobic and sexist and awful. It really bothers me to see that get any sort of platform at all.”
Not everyone shares this same sentiment. In fact, the turnout for Smock was huge, with some students bringing signs and snapping photos with the woman.
Ellie Majhess, a neuroscience major, was one of them. Her photo was featured on The Alligator’s Instagram page, but she does not give Smock her full support.
“It was funny in the moment to see her and listen to all of her outrageous claims, but I don’t believe in spreading hateful or discriminatory messages,” Majhess, 18, said.
“I’m torn because I’m a young adult, Gen-Z and I think it’s really funny,” Abigail Parker, 19, shared.
“But at the same time, the stuff she’s preaching is not right. She literally has in her Instagram bio, ‘Trumpism’.” Parker, a geology major, explained that some of her friends attended Smock’s appearance at the University of Central Florida the week prior. Now, some talk of her traveling to Tallahassee, Florida, to speak at Florida State University after an Instagram account, @fsuchicks, posted a conversation between an FSU student and Smock.
Smock’s tours are not affiliated with the university like those part of the ACCENT Speakers Bureau.
Instead, Smock makes an income selling Sister Cindy merchandise and possibly even making videos on Tik Tok. The app’s Creator Fund allows its users to make a profit assuming they meet basic age and location requirements as well as having at least 10,000 followers, 100,000 views from the past 30 days and producing content that fits within their terms of service. All rules of which Smock seems to fall within.
“I understand the desire to point and laugh at her, but even if that’s the attitude people are coming at it from. … The bigger the crowd gets, the more support she thinks she’s getting, the easier it is for her to keep touring colleges,” McLaren said.
Still, McLaren suspects this type of humor is therapeutic to some.
“I know, particularly within the gay community, they think it’s really fun to shove it in her face,” McLaren said. “Even though I’m not comfortable with that, even being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I would never tell someone they aren’t allowed to essentially counterprotest.”
“There’s definitely a lot of controversy about whether or not people should give her attention or even if she should be allowed at all,” Majhess said. “However, I believe that the fanfare was fleeting and caused minimum disruption. A week later, she has moved on to a new campus and the rest of us have moved on to our studies.”