This study examines the mentoring component of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's (CIC) Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP). The national initiative, implemented on various campuses throughout the United States, seeks to establish a diverse faculty by encouraging the enrollment and completion rates of minority doctoral candidates. Results from interviews with former and current undergraduate student participants suggest that mentorship influences the individual, interpersonal, extra-programmatic, and to a lesser extent, collective realms of protege experiences. Study results emphasize the importance of faculty-directed mentorship in preparing students of color for both graduate education and entrance into the professoriate.