Suggestion: Instead of a crown, make the mentor icon a tree, aka, a full grown sprout

[Vahlnir]

I don't understand changing the symbol. To the people who see it as a status, you aren't changing that. It's not the fact that it's a crown, it's the fact that it's a pretty much a cool kids club.

Yeah, but a gold crown is typically associated with royalty or seen as a "high status" symbol. Take that away and that might deter at least some people who are just in it for the symbol. Not all, obviously, but some.