In honor of Ernest Green and eight individuals who were the first African-Americans to hold their positions throughout Mississippi, a reception ceremony was held at 11 a.m. on Feb. 28 in the Foster Ballroom of the Colvard Student Union.
Following Green’s lecture, “Lessons from Little Rock,” presented on Feb. 27, the ceremony served to honor not only Green, but also Flonzie Brown, elections commissioner of Madison County, Miss.; Mamie Chinn, Madison County Justice Court judge of District 2; Willie Johnson, State of Mississippi Fire Department chief; Frank Nichols, City of Starkville Police Department chief; John Outlaw, former City of Starkville Police Department interim chief; Johnny Haynes, Louisville Fire Department chief; Constance Harvey, University of Mississippi School of Law and juris doctor; Gloria Turnipseed, Winston County District 4 supervisor and James Young, mayor of Philadelphia, Miss.
The ceremonial reception featured Aundrea Self, WCBI TV anchor, as the master of ceremony and musical entertainment by Iika McCarter from the Mississippi University for Women.
The university gave Green and the nine individuals honored for being the first African-Americans in their positions during the ceremony prestigious accolades. 
Stephen Middleton, director of the African American Studies program at MSU, said the planning committee proposed honoring the individuals who were the first in their employee positions or institutes of higher learning as part of Green’s visit, and it provides a way for the community to show appreciation for these individuals
During the ceremony, Julia Hodges, associate vice president for Academic Affairs, said the contribution made by Green and his fellow classmates 57 years ago deserved the reflection given during the reception.
“Imagine, being an African-American teenager in 1957. Imagine that you and your family have made the decision to make the commitment that you would be one of the first nine African-American students to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.,” Hodges said. “Imagine that it was only through actions taken by Dwight Eisenhower that you and the other eight students were allowed to enroll. In celebration of black history month, Green is that student that I have described and that we have all imagined ourselves to be.”
Parker Wiseman, Starkville mayor, said hearing Green’s story, which was one he learned in history class, was a special treat.
“There’s no substitute for hearing Green tell his own story, and to describe to us what it was actually like as a teenager sitting in that car, seeing all of that play out in front of him. That’s as powerful as it gets,” Wiseman said. “This was an enrichment of the previous education that I had of Green’s experience.”
Green, member of the Little Rock Nine, said he gets a number of requests to do black history reflections, and this reflection has provided him, as well as those who listened to his lecture, with a learning experience.
“This is an institution that seems poised to see this as more than just an isolated activity of black history month. Clearly this and the Civil Rights Movement in the state of Mississippi intertwines together because so much of it occurred here and around policies that existed,” Green said. “I’ve said many times, thought that I was simply going to school. We didn’t start out to make history. We had some idea that this was changing things, and we couldn’t avoid it as African-American teenagers.”
Green said May 17 will mark 60 years since the Supreme Court handed down the Brown decision, something he hopes will be observed publicly and privately.
“It was a world that we thought was ready to accept change. The Supreme Court decision that this made will be recognized in lots of places,” Green said. “Growing up in Little Rock, Ark., for many people in my generation, you could feel the change was in the wind. I’ve always said one of the great lessons of life early is that if it’s a big crowd standing around you on a decision, it’s not difficult. The moment of truth comes when you’re standing there alone and you begin to ask, ‘What’s wrong with this picture?’”
Green said Middleton and others have shown him such hospitality that he will be back to MSU for another visit.