What happened to Lalami at the Casablanca office, the progressive paper she worked for after college?

Lalami was in her editor's office when a famous columnist entered. He asked her why she was moving to the states to go to grad school. He was also a linguistics professor and he suggested that she stay and allow him to be her adviser. He then asked her to sit on her lap. She refused and her editor and the sports writer in the office laughed.