When her doctor in Plainfield, Indiana, asked her to schedule a six-month follow-up — and the earliest available appointment was eight months out — 97-year-old Lucille Ali knew something was wrong.
“That made me realize how desperate we were for doctors,” she said.
So, she decided to do something about it.
In June 2025, Mrs. Ali, or Lucy as she is known to her family, reached out to Kansas City University (KCU) to honor her late husband, Syed A. “Sy” Ali, PhD, with a meaningful gift. Inspired by her granddaughter’s experience at KCU, she made a generous $250,000 gift to establish the Sy Ali Scholarship which supports students in the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) who have financial need and an interest in family medicine.
Her granddaughter, Natalie Sipes, DO, a 2025 KCU-COM graduate, wasn’t surprised by the gesture.
“I think (the scholarship) shows how generous my grandmother is as a person. She realizes how fortunate she is, and she's very quick to share that with other people. My grandfather was the same way, so I think just the selflessness of both of them, is a kind of example of just who they both are as people.”
Dr. Ali, a native of India, immigrated to the United States as a teenager. Although he initially hoped to become a physician, he discovered he was too queasy for medicine and instead earned a PhD in engineering from Michigan State University. He built a successful career as an energy consultant, but was thrilled when his granddaughter chose to pursue medicine.
Mrs. Ali spoke with great pride about her granddaughter’s experience at KCU and how it inspired her to give back to help future students pursue their dreams.
It was that personal connection that drew Mrs. Ali to KCU. She had attended her granddaughter’s White Coat Ceremony and graduation, and had heard countless stories of how she quickly formed close bonds with fellow students.
When Sipes moved to Kansas City from Indianapolis, she didn’t know anyone—but soon discovered that several KCU students lived in her apartment complex near campus.
“We ended up building our own community,” she recalled.
From sharing recipes and rides or even helping with flat tires, they were there for one another. Today that network of KCU friends remain connected across the country and still talk almost every day.
“In Indianapolis, my support was my family, so my grandmother was happy that I found support when away from home,” Sipes said.
Now an OB-GYN resident at University of Kansas-Wichita, Sipes is training at Wesley Medical Center, a comprehensive, Level I trauma center that serves patients across rural Kansas. She expects to deliver 500 babies this year.
She says medical school was hard and residency will be no different--but she feels prepared thanks to an important concept she learned at KCU.
“Wherever you go, try to find your people -- people who are going to support you through whatever you're going to do, because . . . the letters after your name aren't going to matter as much as the people that were by your side through it.”
Sipes found a lifelong community at KCU. And now, thanks to her grandmother’s generosity, future students will have the opportunity to find theirs, too.
(0) Comments