OXFORD - For football fans, there's a deep rivalry between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. But that competition doesn't exist between the university's two leaders and their wives.

Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and wife Rhonda were in Oxford Friday morning for Dr. Dan Jones' investiture as the new chancellor at the University of Mississippi.

Rhonda Keenum said that when she arrived in Oxford, the first person she sought out was Lydia Jones, the wife of Ole Miss' new chancellor.

"We are here to support Dan and Lydia," Rhonda said. "This is a significant moment in our state."

Mark Keenum has known Dan Jones since Jones became dean of the Ole Miss School of Medicine in 2003.

"Everyone here today said that he is a genuinely great human being, and I would echo that," Mark Keenum said. "He is a great friend."

Although Dan and Lydia Jones had a schedule conflict and were not able to attend Keenum's investiture at Mississippi State in October, Rhonda received a special message from Lydia a few days later.

"I got a hand-written note from her that she was sitting at Carrier House, looking out of her window, thinking of us," Rhonda said, adding that she keeps the note in her bedside table. "She wrote the most heartfelt letter about the significance of that moment."

Mark Keenum said that he and Dan Jones also share a mission of working together to address the needs of the entire state.

Keenum said that the two leaders have talked about the fact that both universities are located in Northeast Mississippi and about specific efforts they could make for this region.

"We want to work together as closely as we can to address the issues and the needs of Northeast Mississippi," Keenum said.

Contact Chris Kieffer at (662) 678-1590 or chris.kieffer@djournal.com.