Keith Orr traveled the world during his time in the United States Army. From Kosovo in the 1990s, to Haiti and Iraq in the 2000s–and several other places in between–Orr served faithfully while learning about other people and cultures.

When he retired with the rank of Sergeant First Class, Keith decided to settle down with his family in Hockessin, Del., and charted a new path forward, first owning his own handyman franchise, and now as a home inspector with AmeriSpec Inspection Service. Having served in the military for more than 10 years, Keith was able to pass his GI Bill benefits along to members of his family, which has helped his wife, Andrea Orr ‘26MMS, and son, Ben Orr ’29, tremendously as they both make their way at Arcadia.

“I’ve managed to transition out of the military fairly well,” Keith said. “I mean, it was kind of rocky, but we settled in fairly well. I’ve got some issues concentrating on a written page, so the idea of just letting [the GI benefits] go to waste was just terrible. I’m absolutely happy to be their biggest supporter.”

Andrea has long held the dream of becoming a physician’s assistant (PA). Because of military and other family responsibilities, the chance to chase down a graduate degree never really presented itself. It was a chance meeting with Meghan Carswell Fraser ’07MMS during drop off at Fort Jackson’s childcare service that turned Andrea onto the idea of attending PA school at Arcadia.

“Megan had a Pennsylvania license plate, and she was standing there in scrubs,” Andrea explained. “Being a Yankee, there weren’t very many of us around, so I confided in her that I wanted to become a PA. Our friendship blossomed, and she mentioned that she went to Arcadia. So it was something that I tucked away, probably around 2011 or so.”

Years later, Andrea revisited the idea and discussed the possibility with Keith. She began preparing for applying to PA school by retaking several science classes at her local community college in order to bring her knowledge up-to-date, as well as becoming an EMT to gain experience in the medical field. She also began preparing her family for periods of time when she might be away, whether for clinical rotations, studying for exams, or traveling with the program.

“At that time, my daughter Ainsley was 8 and Ben was 11,” Andrea said. “So when we knew that this could possibly start happening, we made sure my kids started learning how to wash their clothes; we made sure that they knew how to start making meals. Eventually, they were going to have to start kind of taking care of themselves a little bit more.”

Ben, who is majoring in History, initially did not have a large college list to whittle down. He was interested in Bryn Athyn College, and also decided to check out Arcadia on his mom’s recommendation. After learning about the study abroad opportunities and the strength of the History department, Ben knew Arcadia was for him.

“We walked around the grounds, and the campus was the right size,” Ben said. “I talked to a couple of the professors and thought the classes sounded really cool. Then I heard about the opportunities to travel. I was pretty much sold from that point.”

During his first semester, Ben has joined the Astronomy Club, Polyglot Club, Model U.N., and Ultimate Frisbee team, helping him to settle into college life. He’s also planning to study in London during the spring semester as part of Arcadia’s First-Year Study Abroad Experience.

“This first semester is really just a prelude to London,” he said. “I’ve been to seven countries, but England is not one of them. I had the chance to talk with alumna Nicole Burgon ’25, and she gave me advice on where to go and what to see. This’ll be the first time I’ve been somewhere for more than a couple days at a time.”

Ben uses what he’s learned from his father and his time in the military to drive his interest in history.

“As I got older, I started being able to understand more that I have a firsthand source to a lot of history,” he said. “I was at a Model UN conference, and people were talking about historical events, and [my dad] was there for a lot of them. He was there in Kosovo, he was there in Haiti, he’s been to Iraq multiple times. It started out as just understanding his life, and then I was like, ‘Hmm, actually this is really interesting.’”

“A character trait for our family, especially in the men, is just this never-ending curiosity about the world, how things work, and how events from the past influence things now,” Keith added. “Gosh, history is so big, you can never find the bottom of it. I love that Ben’s into history.”

Arcadia is a Yellow Ribbon school and works to make education affordable for all active military and veterans. This semester, there are 45 students using GI Bill benefits at the University, with another 30 using various other benefits provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I was aware of the Yellow Ribbon Program, and I knew it was something we should be looking for,” Keith said. “So it kind of went from ‘Hey, this is a really good school,’ to ‘Oh, heck yeah, they have a yellow ribbon.’ The GI Bill made education possible; the Yellow Ribbon Program made it smooth and accessible.”