> I would appreciate if there was empirical reasoning for why Calculus should be taught in Computer Science rather than the argument be "we need Calc because we're supposed to and every one else has it".

(1) Research in Computer Science. Don't expect to get very far in research in any STEM field without good knowledge of calculus.

Calculus is a pillar of Western Civilization, one of the all time crown jewels, and the root of the most important part of math, 'analysis'. Discard 'analysis' at high risk for the future of your career.

We're talking about the future here, right? That is, you are in education to prepare for the future, right?

E.g., the last paper I published on computer science was heavily based on measure theory, that is, a grown up version of calculus.

At present, commonly some of the best research opportunities are to further 'mathematize' computer science where calculus is just baby talk broadly assumed.

(2) Keeping up in Computer Science. To keep up, you will need to read, and authors will feel free to use some calculus.

E.g., maybe you are interested in models of viral growth on the Internet. Okay, you can quickly come to the differential equation

y' = k y (b - y)

with y(0) known. Just for viral growth, some calculus.

(3) Applications. E.g., maybe you want to do some 'machine learning' using, say, maximum likelihood estimation. There need to solve a problem in non-linear programming. A key part of that work is the gradient, that is, calculus.

In robotics, drones, and other forms of mechanical automation, well need some calculus.