Okay, so here’s the context: I’m currently in my 5th semester, but this happened last semester.
In my major, there’s a guy I’ll call “P.” He’s infamous for being a slacker when it comes to tasks from professors. P is also a loner—not the “I’m smart and prefer to work alone” type, but more the “I don’t contribute and rely on others” type.
One of our professors is notoriously tough—he rarely gives A’s, and even a B+ (or AB as he calls it) is considered lucky. Last semester, this professor assigned us a group project: writing a paper and presenting it as the final assignment. This assignment was worth 40% of our final grade, and scoring below 60 meant you’d fail the class.
We were allowed to choose our own group members, so I teamed up with two hardworking people and one mutual friend. We had three months to complete the project, and knowing the professor’s high standards, we worked diligently.
The Problem
Four days before the deadline, we had everything finished and submitted. We were relieved and thought everything was fine. Then, on the day of the deadline, P contacted one of our group members, asking when we were planning to start the project.
Confused, the group member forwarded P’s messages to our group chat. None of us even knew he was part of our group. I contacted the TA, who explained that P’s original group had been dissolved two months prior due to insufficient members, and the TA had reassigned P to our group. Apparently, we were never informed.
The TA immediately assumed we were “bullying” P because he was a loner and accused us of not reaching out to include him. I was furious but more upset with P. It turned out he had also complained to the TA about being ignored. I asked the group member who had received P’s messages to screenshot them, showing the date of contact, and I sent those to the TA.
The TA talked to P and then asked us to add him to our group chat. Reluctantly, we did.
The Fight
When P joined the chat, he immediately asked which part of the presentation he was supposed to cover. This sparked a huge fight. He tried to claim topics that other group members had already worked on. No one was willing to give up their sections, and P kept insisting.
Eventually, P complained to the TA, claiming we weren’t letting him participate. The TA suggested that P research a new topic and add it to the presentation slides. This would allow him to get at least a presentation score, though he would miss out on the paper’s score.
P didn’t like this. He refused to do extra work and argued with the TA, eventually threatening to report the group for “bullying” and accusing the professor and TA of enabling it. He even said something like, “Where’s your credibility as a TA?”
The TA had enough. She forwarded screenshots of her conversations with P to me. As expected, P reported us to the administration, which contacted the TA and then us for explanations.
The Resolution
When the administration questioned us, I remembered that P and I shared four classes that semester, two of which also had group projects where we were assigned together. In both cases, P never contributed or even acknowledged the assignments in the group chats.
I provided screenshots of those group chats to the administration, proving that P had a pattern of not participating until the last minute. His claim of being “bullied” was invalid. Ultimately, the administration left it up to us to decide whether to include P’s name in the assignment. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t.
Aftermath
When the semester ended, I noticed P wasn’t enrolled in any of my current classes. Curious, I asked the administration about it. It turns out P failed most of his classes last semester and had to wait a semester to retake them.
TL;DR: Guy didn’t contribute to the group project, we didn’t include his name, he failed the class, and now he has to re-enroll next year.