Brother Jed: The Infamous Campus Evangelist

COLLEGE STATION, Tx. - As the spring semester begins and settles back in on the Texas A&M campus, so do the students, the winter weather, common colds, and of course the infamous Brother Jed. 

Over the years, Jedfest and Brother Jed have grown to be a constant here on the A&M campus, so much so that it has become almost a tradition. Brother Jed otherwise known as Jed Smock has been coming to our campus for several decades. As a matter of fact, Smock states that he has been coming to preach here on campus “virtually annually since the early ’80s.”

Smock is best known across campus for his loud and extreme form of evangelism which he preaches to the masses on campuses across the United States. He screams out to students about how their lifestyles are damming them to hell and why this is so. He claims that this is a part of his technique. Smock said, “The shock and awe factor grabs their attention, so I can then tell them the wrong in their ways.”

This is not always how Smock was though. As a matter of fact, back in his younger years, he was the exact opposite. In the ‘60s, as a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, he had gotten involved in the radical drug revolutionary movements during this time. It was during this time that he, “turned onto the drugs, tuned into the hippie scene, and dropped out of my professor position.” 

This led Smock to the northern shores of Africa, more specifically Morocco. It was here while living in a hippie commune where he found his faith and purpose. “There was a man on the beach, carrying the cross, preaching in the name of Jesus.” Smock said. “It made me realize that I had never read the bible before. And I didn’t have to get that far into the New Testament, to determine that if the bible is true I am going to hell.” 

This was Smock’s turning point in his life. He returned back to the United States to devote his life to god. This is when he started to preach on campuses and since then he has visited, “hundreds of campuses, in every state and abroad.” And the rest is history.