Pexels/Reddit

Group projects are stressful enough without one teammate refusing to pull their weight. But when that same person expects everyone else to rescue them anyway, tensions can boil over fast.

This university student says she spent the past year working with three classmates on a series of group assignments. While two of the teammates consistently contributed, the fourth, Jenny, reportedly developed a reputation for turning in little to no work, submitting AI-generated paragraphs, and ignoring repeated requests to participate. Despite raising concerns with professors, OP says the group was repeatedly told it was their responsibility to make sure everyone contributed.

The final straw came during one of the last assignments, when Jenny allegedly failed to complete her entire section the day before the deadline. The rest of the group scrambled to cover for her, but the paper was still penalized. Shortly afterward, Jenny removed everyone on Snapchat, left the group chat, and unknowingly cut off the only communication channel the group had.

When she later missed the final presentation and failed the course, she blamed everyone but herself.

AITA for not bothering to find a way to add partner back to the groupchat?

The past year I (F23) have been in a group with three other girls for university. Lisa (24), Tina (22) and Jenny (21). Lisa and Tina always did their work on time, were positive and easy to talk and discuss the tasks and papers with.

Now Jenny, did none of these things. She never turned in her work. The times she did it was a ChatGPT paragraph without references and emojis in them.

We were stuck in that group for a year, and every time we complained to a professor or TA they told us it was our responsibility that everyone in the group did their part.

Wow.

We tried to ask Jenny if she need help, and she said no. We also tried telling her that when she doesn’t do the work it affects the rest of us which isn’t fair.

Every time we did she got mad, saying how she hated working in groups but she would try to be better next time.

She was always so negative and complained all the time about the line of study, which made me question why she even goes there. (I did not say that to her tho, just a thought that crossed my mind).

Seems pretty unfair.

Anyways for one of the last papers we were set to work in pairs. I was set up with Lisa, and Tina with Jenny. Me and Lisa’s paper was over fairly early, but Tina often requested Jenny’s work in the group chat and she said she also sent her private messages.

The day before the deadline, Tina wrote in the groupchat clearly very angry that Jenny hadn’t done her part (1500 words) and if any of us could please help her with that part. Jenny read the messages but didn’t say anything.

After the deadline where me and Lisa had helped. The paper got subtracted points for us failing to have everyone participate, but Tina refused to let Jenny have her name on it.

That’s wild.

After this, Jenny left the group chat. It was on Snapchat (weird choice I know) and also removed all of us. We had one last presentation, but Jenny was no longer in the group chat and we couldn’t add her as she had removed us.

I guess she didn’t know about the presentation and thought we were done for the semester.

We had the presentation without her and told them what was up with her absence and they actually let it slide, and we passed the course.

HALLELUJAH.

After this she added us again, made a group chat and was very angry that we hadn’t let her join the presentation, and that she need to take the course again next semester. She was also mad we hadn’t even told her about the presentation.

The professor had emailed her about the absence of work. We said we didn’t really have a way to tell her.

I am aware that we probably could’ve found another way to contact her, but what use would that be to us when she wouldn’t have contributed at all? I don’t think she deserves to pass a course she hasn’t done any work for. So, are we the a******s?

Reddit overwhelmingly voted NTA, with most commenters saying Jenny’s failure wasn’t caused by missing a group chat, it was the predictable result of an entire year of refusing to participate. Many pointed out that she’d repeatedly ignored messages when she was in the chat, so there was little reason to believe finding another way to contact her would have changed anything.

Never Miss a Story

Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.

Readers also noted that Jenny made the decision to remove everyone herself, effectively cutting off communication before the final presentation. Several argued that expecting the group to chase her down after she’d voluntarily left was unreasonable, especially after they’d already spent months covering her workload. Others emphasized that university students are ultimately responsible for keeping track of deadlines and course requirements themselves, not relying on classmates to manage them.

Many commenters felt the professors’ earlier refusal to address the unequal workload only made the situation more frustrating. Even so, they agreed the group had done far more than was required by repeatedly helping Jenny throughout the year. By the end, they weren’t obligated to continue rescuing someone who showed no interest in contributing.

The overall consensus was that Jenny didn’t fail because no one added her back to the group chat, she failed because she stopped participating long before that.

This person says communication goes both ways.

This person says Jenny basically self eliminated herself.

And this person says NTA, but choose friends wisely.

If you leave the group chat, ignore the work, and miss the presentation, it’s hard to blame anyone else for failing the class.

Add TwistedSifter to your Google News Add us as a preferred source on Google

Author

Diana Whelan

Diana Whelan | Contributing Writer, Life & Drama

Diana Whelan is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter specializing in family dynamics, viral internet culture, and interpersonal relationships. Drawing on her extensive professional background as a senior copywriter in the digital marketing space, Diana excels at transforming community-driven conversations and trending social media debates into relatable, highly engaging narratives.

Rather than simply aggregating online drama, Diana brings a balanced, humorous, and empathetic editorial voice to everyday dilemmas and parenting moments. She has a keen eye for finding the human element at the center of complex relationship conflicts and viral social trends.

Outside of writing, Diana is usually spending time with her husband and two kids, planning elaborate themed parties, or chasing down new family adventures. Fueled by a little too much caffeine and a love for a well-placed pun, she can often be found unwinding with a glass of wine and her very patient golden retriever.

Connect with Diana on LinkedIn and Instagram.