NEW YORK — As a deadline for Columbia University administrators and protesters to iron out a deal to clear a Gaza encampment edges closer, university officials are facing a lose-lose decision if students continue to flout school rules: Call in the NYPD for a second time or allow a situation they have said cannot continue to continue.

Columbia officials have faced criticism by students, faculty and civil rights groups for calling in the police last week to deal with campus unrest, and increasing violence at other college campuses is no doubt sparking concern.

On the other side, Columbia president Minouche Shafik is under fire by Jewish students and an array of public officials for failing to protect students from anti-Semitism and abuse in and around the upper Manhattan campus. House Speaker Mike Johnson Wednesday visited campus and called on Shafik to resign.

Thursday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn), whose daughter Isra Hirsi was among the Columbia students arrested and suspended last week, visited the campus lawn, according to students’ social media posts from inside the closed-off encampment.

Columbia says it is making progress in talks with the protesters, who are demanding the university divest from investments tied to Israel. According to the administration, students have committed to removing a number of their tents and promised that protesters not enrolled at the school will leave.

But negotiations, which started last Friday, continue on unstable ground.

Student negotiators meet twice daily with members of the administration, according to student news site BWOG. The campus outlet reported the university has tried to offer an alternative space for the encampment, because they need the current lawn to set up for graduation on May 15.

Students briefly pulled out of talks when administrators raised the prospect of clearing out the encampment again — a threat that, for now, is on hold.

“This is a win for us,” said Khymani James, a representative the encampment. “Our negotiation team has committed not to participate in a bargaining process so long as the university attempts to extract concessions by police or military force.”

Still, James added, James, “there is no guarantee of NYPD not being involved after 48 hour deadline.”

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