It would definitely change the perspective and balance of CD. All of the questions and responses would be from the student perspective, and one of the extra avenues of mentorship would be closed.
This would change the perspective of many teams since teams would only know their mentors and have interface with other teams mentors only at competitions.
I think this would also change the interaction between teams by the mentors and the sharing of best practices, tips, and helps that mentors get from one another. Our source of ideas would be limited.
I could see this even impacting the off-season competitions. Much of the advertising for off-seasons is either local or through CD. The students would have a tougher time trying to convince their team to attend a more distant off-season event without the mentor participation on CD.
Finding volunteers for events would be more challenging as well. Students may not capture and communicate all of the needs for upcoming events to be able to recruit the nesessary help to run events.
I don't think all of the effects would be bad, but it would be different, that is for sure!
(and I would have about a quarter of the FIRST friends that I have
)