This edition of our Ranger spotlight focuses on the achievements of undergraduate student Tristan Santulli (‘25), a student in the midst of his fourth and final season on the men’s fencing team. Tristan is a student-athlete who exemplifies the synergy between academics and athletics, balancing a triple major in finance, economics and business.
Outside of athletics and academics, Santulli has taken his knowledge and leadership skills to demonstrate entrepreneurial and professional success as the Founder and CEO of Wonder 9th, a global e-commerce company boasting over 1.4 million site visitors and 150,000+ sales.
As an accomplished foil who has over 100 wins and qualified for Regionals on two occasions, Santulli is not a stranger to academic recognition either. In his time at Drew, he has been named to the dean’s list on multiple occasions, inducted as a member of the prestigious international economics honor society and was recognized as a high-achieving student-athlete with the American Collegiate Academic Award. Further, he participated in the nycTREC Semester on Wall Street and presented at several Bear Dens.
On the academic side, he identified The Work of Innovation: Creating Organizations that Solve Problems as his favorite course at Drew. The course, taught by Ann Mills, allowed him to “blend my creative and business side to pitch an innovative, market-disrupting business. She was a very helpful and supportive mentor in helping me pitch my business in the UPitchNJ competition.”
UPitchNJ is a statewide collegiate startup competition sponsored by Nokia Bell Labs. For his presentation, Santulli brought Ski Share, a startup company that increases traffic to ski resorts while boosting the surrounding local economies. As an avid skier since the age of six, the mission of his app is to make skiing and snowboarding more affordable and provide options at various mountains.
He is also an accomplished photographer, running a professional photography business with over 50 clients and a strong Instagram presence. His work showcases his artistic and creative visions, while also highlighting his technical expertise in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.
During the recent summer break, Santulli worked as a Commercial Strategy Intern with Wayfair. He currently interns as a marketing intern on-campus with Gourmet Dining LLC., a division of Compass Group.
This experience focuses on implementing and promoting the new dining experience at Drew. He will continue to serve in this internship for the remainder of the 2024-25 academic school year.
When asked about his favorite memory as an athlete for the Rangers, he states, “going to Regionals, because I worked up to it my entire collegiate career and it was a chance to play at a high level against top talent.”
From Santulli’s perspective, being a student-athlete “forced me to learn time management and prioritize important tasks and be able to work quickly and effectively.”
Santulli’s accomplishments and mindset highlight the profound impact of combining athletic commitment, academic rigor and entrepreneurial drive. He has made the most of his time at Drew, and he is a standout representative of the university’s student-athlete community.
If you would like to nominate another student-athlete to be featured in next semester’s issues, please send their name to theacorn+sports@drew.edu.
Benjamin Castro is a senior majoring in marketing and business with a minor in history.
