A professor wearing blackface, intentionally or not, will never be appropriate even in an "intellectually challenging environment." Had the incident happened in a different political atmosphere, i.e., not an election year when a major candidate was peddling racism in order to get elected, the outcome might have been different, for example, it could have been a learning/teaching moment when Schurtz's students and the local African-American community taught HER something about white people donning afros and painting their skin black. 
Unfortunately, America has a very serious racism problem that will be severely exacerbated by the president-elect and his cabinet appointment of Stephen Bannon. Sadly, Professor Schurtz is a victim of her own ignorance. Anti-racists are very much on edge and now so especially so given that Trump is no longer merely a candidate spewing racism in an effort to get elected but has been elected and has an administration that is officially white supremacist.