All Georgia HBCUs will screen student-athletes for heart complications

Players warm up before an NCAA Celebration Bowl football game between Howard and Florida A&M, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Mike Stewart/AP Photo)

Over 40,000 people packed into Mercedes-Benz Stadium this year to watch the Celebration Bowl – the national football championship for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). 

As the Howard University Bison and the Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University Rattlers broke for halftime, representatives from two national healthcare nonprofits took the field to make an announcement. 

CareSource was donating $20,000 to offer free heart screenings to Georgia’s HBCU student-athletes. The money will go to Who We Play For, a partner organization providing the staff and equipment to implement the screenings.