Hereford stressed, as President, that the student body would need to be content with their decision and fully adopt 'Johnny Rebel' as their school mascot - and personally remarking that he "did not much care for the Blue Riders, anyway".

[5] The Shorthorn reported on November 17, 1951, that the first Homecoming in several years would feature a “Rebel float”, sporting the Beauregard Battle Flag as its main insignia.

The statue, sculpted by alumnus Edward C. Brown, was planned as early as October 21, 1958, by a committee consisting of E. C. Barksdale, Miss Woulida Piner, Colonel Kirk P. Brock, Lloyd Lasen, and Cothburn O’Neal.

[9] The University Center, then the ‘Student Union building’, was named via a decision from the board of regions of the A&M System on February 28, 1959.

M. T. Harrington, then Chancellor of the A&M System, presented the plaque and statue during the naming ceremony for the Center on behalf of the faculty and staff in order to preserve the legacy of President Hereford.

He, likewise, was paramount in the changing atmosphere on campus: he spearheaded the adoption of Confederate iconography for the school.

His leadership saw the development of Confederacy-related traditions and icons of ASC: the “ASC Rebs”, “Miss Dixie Bell”, the Confederate Battle Flag as the school symbol, Confederate symbols on all uniforms, celebration of Edward Emmet Rankin's part of Nathan Forrest's Raiders in the Civil War and founder of what would become NTAC-ASC, “Old South Week”[12] (including mock-slave auctions) [13] Likewise, his administration would see the use of minstrel shows as part of school-sponsored events, and a campus organization that used 'KKK' as its official acronym.

E. H. Hereford was integral in the changes at NTAC-ASC, starting with the adoption of “President ” as opposed to “Dean” for the top-head administrator of the institution.

His wife died on June 8, 1992, in Austin, Texas and is entombed next to her husband in the Llano City Cemetery.