The 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing was awarded to Ira B. Harkey Jr. for his coverage of Meredith's admission, Barnett's resistance, and the riot.Roberts & Klibanoff (2006), p. 324. The riot inspired protest songs like Phil Ochs' "The Ballad of Oxford",Eliot (1990), p. 318. and Bob Dylan's "Oxford Town", which appeared on his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.Heylin (2009), pp. 107–108. Billy Joel included "Ole Miss" in reference to the riot in his 1989 song "We Didn't Start the Fire".
