Students dread running into their professors at the gym. But many go just to see Associate Director of Admissions Bri Braswell ‘16 there.
“She makes the classes fun,” said Katie Lister ‘26, who attends Braswell’s group fitness classes and works with her in the Office of Admissions. “You feel like you’re not doing super hard workouts, which you are doing.”
Braswell’s barre and Zumba sessions are so popular, in fact, that Recreation Services recently added another Friday morning barre slot with her to meet demand — and it now has a waitlist, too. The class, Barre Fusion, ranks highest for attendance this semester, according to Tyler Weiss, who oversees the group fitness classes.
Though she’s not a professor, for Braswell, the studio is her classroom.
“Honestly, I feel like one day, my whole full-time job is going to be movement,” she said.
Her current job in Lafayette College’s admissions division is to oversee recruitment in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore-Virginia region and college counselor relations, among other tasks like reviewing student applications and overseeing admitted student events.
During her three-minute commute to campus and four-hour haul to the D.C. metropolitan area, Braswell choreographs her classes.
“I’d say the majority of the time when I walk into a class, I may or may not have actually done it full out physically, but mentally, I totally have,” she said.
Braswell choreographs all her movements to the beat of the music, something not all instructors try to adhere to.
“For me, it’s very much beat and rhythm driven,” she said.
The instructor has always had a gift for seeing and quickly picking up movements. As a student at Lafayette, she was a co-captain of the Lafayette College Dance Team and attended Zumba classes led by an instructor-certified friend.
Braswell became an instructor herself in 2016 to fill the void of her friend’s graduation, knowing she would stay on campus — “Oh, I guess I could go get certified,” she realized.
“She was the best fitness instructor I’ve ever had,” said Lindsey Sofo ’26, who takes Braswell’s classes.
The alum has worked at the college since her graduation, starting as a fellow for the Office of Academic Advising and dean of students.
“It took a really long time for me to actually get used to being here as a student, and so I felt like it was the right thing for me to do was to experience this a little bit more,” she said.
Ten years later — including her virtual year at Harvard University for her master’s in education — Braswell is still at Lafayette. It’s because she’s always able to find something new, she said. It’s this mindset that led her to barre.
“I really loved taking barre classes because it was very reminiscent of dancing, but also clearly strength training,” Braswell said. She became a certified barre instructor in 2024.
“She’s very accommodating to everyone’s needs and what works best for them,” said Ella Harris ‘29, who attends Braswell’s barre classes.
This is an important philosophy in Braswell’s approach: she avoids the label “fitness” class.
“I try to call it a movement class because I don’t want there to be any misconception about that you’re coming in so that you can get fit, or that you can alter your body in any way,” she said.
Braswell emphasized the importance of strengthening your body for the future, whether it’s aging or being able to carry all your groceries in one trip: “Just doing it for the strength and health of you,” she said.
For Harris, a tour guide and student worker in the admissions office, Braswell has been a large part of her Lafayette experience, and she credits her with the decision to commit to Lafayette.
“She’s such an asset to Lafayette admissions,” Harris said. “I feel like she just has so much care about each student that she meets, and she really does get to know them.”
The first-year signed up for barre classes because Braswell was leading them.
“She’s just so intentional with how she teaches her class, and she’s always hyping us up, especially during arms, because everyone’s dying,” Harris said. “She’s like, ‘You got this.’”
Besides back-to-back arm workouts on Mondays, one of the biggest challenges for Braswell as an instructor is breathwork, crucial for talking while doing the same exercises as her breathless participants. Her asthma doesn’t help.
“When I am telling you breathe from your diaphragm, you’re inhaling, and as you inhale, the belly — I’m telling myself, actually,” she said.
Braswell’s playlists are “very sacred” to her. Her Zumba classes always start with a Megan Thee Stallion song and end with a Megan Thee Stallion song, and class attendees love her playlists, too.
“Bri is just such a ray of sunshine,” Lister said.
Bri’s Spring 2026 schedule:
Monday
Barre Fusion 4:15-4:55 p.m.
Zumba 5:05-6:05 p.m.
Wednesday
Zumba 5-6 p.m.
Friday
7-7:45 a.m.
Benjamin White ‘27 contributed reporting.
