A university is a diverse community and has thousands of students and faculty members. Ideally, every one of them is endowed with freedom of speech. Naturally, there will be a wide range of opinions; some are smart and some are stupid. When you read an opinion article written by two members of the university, you need to understand that particular view may not be shared by many other students and faculty members. If you generalize an opinion article to the entire community, I think you need to reexamine your critical thinking ability.
By the way, I think Grace Hopper is very good choice. Her skin color is a non-issue.