Instead of entering a lecture hall on Feb. 10, students enrolled in Principles of Physics II started up their computers and entered the virtual classroom. Using the Web-conferencing program Elluminate, the professor was able to sufficiently compensate for lost classroom time during an extended period of cancelled classes due to the record-breaking blizzard last week.

According to Priya Vohra (NHS ’12), the class was not mandatory, but highly advised.

“It wasn’t any different from being in the classroom,” Vohra said.

After several feet of snow effectively crippled the D.C. metropolitan area, Georgetown University reopened on Tuesday. The university had been closed the previous Monday through Thursday and open with liberal leave status on Friday and the following Monday, a day previously marked as a university holiday in observance of Presidents’ Day.

Professors responded to the impromptu week off in a variety of ways. Some chose to hold classes during the week by using video chat technology to continue lecturing, while others assigned alternate assignments and Blackboard discussions that were meant to take the place of last week’s coursework. Still others continued where they had left off in the syllabus, with slight modifications for the delay.

University Provost James O’Donnell sent multiple e-mails to the faculty, staff and student body expressing his concerns regarding the four days of cancellations, suggesting that students and professors use interactive technology such as Blackboard and Skype to continue their classes from home.

“I strongly encourage faculty and students alike to take up those tools and see just how much of the business of teaching and learning we can achieve,” O’Donnell said in an e-mail sent on Feb. 8.

In another e-mail sent on Feb. 10 to the Georgetown community, O’Donnell announced that classes would be held with liberal leave on Monday, which had previously been a university holiday. He encouraged students to attend classes on Monday if they were able.

“After almost a week without classroom work, the need to get back in the routine is urgent,” he wrote in the e-mail.

According to O’Donnell, there will be at least one more snow makeup day this semester, and more information will be released later this week.

Student responses to the reinstatement of classes on Monday were varied. Many voiced their discontent by forming and joining Facebook groups such as “Protect Our National Holiday! Say No To Monday Classes!!!” and “Protest Classes on Monday.” The groups protested the cancellation of Monday’s classes, citing issues such as prior travel plans.

Other students, such as Kat Koser (SFS ’12), did not think the announcement merited such a response.

“I really didn’t mind,” Koser said. “I would have liked the day off, but at the same time I understood that it was good [for us] to get back to class.”

The George Washington University, which was closed from Monday until Thursday of last week as well, has announced plans to use reading period days to make up classes. “