When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man 50 years ago, she helped spark the civil rights movement. On the day of her funeral, that spark has ignited the engine of CyRide into action.

All CyRide buses Wednesday reserved an empty seat in honor of Parks.

“She made a pretty big contribution to the rest of us and I thought it will be a pretty good way to honor her,” said Tom Budd, CyRide dispatcher.

Budd was sitting in an upstairs bedroom in his home Monday evening when the idea came to him. He immediately sent an e-mail to Barb Neal, operations supervisor for CyRide.

“Do we have any plans for honoring Rosa Parks on Wednesday?” the e-mail read. “Could we hold a front seat in each bus for the day?”

The answer was a “yes” that reverberated through the CyRide offices.

Although few CyRide administrators are old enough to remember that day in 1955, they all supported the decision.

Riders of CyRide were also respectful of the policy.

“A lot of young people aren’t that aware of her contribution,” said Roger Brown, a CyRide driver.

“I am glad that they know enough to respect that.”

Ginger Shipp, graduate student in ecology, evolution and organismal biology, said she thought it was a nice thing to do.

“It’s good that CyRide decided to do something to commemorate Mrs. Parks’ memory,” she said.

Maggie Luttrell, freshman in LAS-open option, said she agreed and added that Parks’ gesture didn’t just mean a lot to black people.

“Her being a woman means a lot to me,” she said. “It’s empowering to see a woman stand up for herself.”

Flags were flown at half-mast Wednesday, a national proclamation made by President George W. Bush in memory of Parks.

“That was a pretty bold thing to do,” said Susan Gwiasda, public relations officer for the City of Ames.

“She took a stand and she did it in a very difficult and dangerous time.”

Neal said she hopes the message CyRide is trying to send is one that is strong enough for everyone to hear.

“If you have to stand on a full bus when there is an empty seat, that says something,” she said.

Rosa Parks, who died Oct. 24, is the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda in Washington, D.C., and was buried in a mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit on Wednesday.

Several thousand people, including former president Bill Clinton, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other prominent political leaders attended.