AITA in this situation?

Question

I have to take a diversity class for my major. A huge assignment we have to do is create a podcast with someone of a different culture than you. It's a huge assignment and it's due next week. I decided to use my friend Nate. Nate is queer and Jewish so I figured he would be perfect. I asked Nate May 28th if he could do the podcast and he said yes. We were talking about it for a while. So Nate was in foster care and got adopted but his adoptive family were horrible. Sent him to conversion therapy. Abused him. They were terrible people. 
He finally met his biological dad last year and they've been building a relationship. The last time I heard from Nate at all was around June 10th where he was saying he thinks something is wrong with his dad. After that I stopped hearing from him. I would text him asking if he's still good to do the podcast. He wouldn't really reply to me. Finally heard from him last week saying he's sorry he hasn't been replying. His dad stopped taking his meds and has been having episodes. I said I'm sorry. Then asked if he's still good to be my person for the assignment. He didn't respond. Nate has not been communicating with me. He finally messaged me back today. My assignment is due Wednesday. He said his dad committed suicide. I said I was so sorry. He said he was sorry for not communicating with me. He's doing horribly mentally. That he can't do my assignment because of the funeral and everything. 
I explain everything to my teacher. She does not accept late work but I was hoping she could make an exception. I won't have time to find another person and get this podcast recorded by Wednesday. My teacher said this

I was really upset by this and messaged him saying I know he's going through something right now but he had a long time to tell me he could no longer help me with this assignment and I would appreciate it if he honored his commitment. I said I know he's going through a lot and I am so sorry his dad died but we all have a lot of bad shit going on and I'm depending on him. He left me on read. I messaged him 6 other times and he continues to leave me on read. Then his boyfriend messaged me to tell me to please stop messaging him. That he is going through a lot and I am adding to his stress. Is it wrong for me to demand he keep his agreement when he never told me he wasn't going to do it? Also if he still won't do it can I report my teacher at my college to see if they can get her to give me more time?

Answer

Yes, YTA. If I were Nate, I'd block you.
First, it was your job to complete the assignment, you had plenty of time to do this, but for some reason waited until the last minute. You should have replaced him when he wasn't getting back to you the first time and started planning on having someone else do it as he was clearly not able to find the time since he wasn't responding.
Secondly, this is your "friend" but you can't be bothered to check in with him and see how he's feeling about everything and how you can help him with his father, instead you just continuously bug him about your project, showing that you don't care about this "friend". 
Lastly, after he finally breaks down and says he can't do it, you blame him for not being able to complete your project. It's not his project, sure, he said he'd do it, but ultimately, it's on you if it doesn't get finished. It's very cold hearted of you to blame him and try to force him to do it when his father died. He's literally going through so much and you just don't care.

Answer

I agree with your professor, you should’ve looked for someone else to do it with when he stopped responding a month ago. You have no grounds to stand on with the college if you want to report the professor. They’ll say the same thing, you’re in college. Let’s me proactive, someone didn’t respond for a prolonged period of time? Cool, I’ll find someone else to do it. Also, your friends dad just committed suicide, huuuuuuge asshole move to say “we all have bad shit going on and I’m counting on you to still do this”. If you don’t give a shit that your friend is grieving leave him be, reach out to other friends to see if they can help you before your deadline.

Answer

No, this was your responsibility. He wasn’t answering you so you should have been looking for someone else. You can’t be an asshole to him because you didn’t get back up. He was doing you a favor. And he has a lot going on. I’m sure after this you won’t hear from him ever again. And I don’t blame him. You could have been looking for someone this whole time at any point.

Answer

You seem to be the problem in this situation.   If he took a month and didn't respond,  it was your responsibility to reach out to someone else to help you with your assignment.   You cannot ask someone who is grieving to uphold something when their own mental health is crashing after he brought you the news that his dad is dead via suicide. 
A friend would simply say "it's okay,  I understand.  Sorry for your loss,  if you need anything - I'm here. " but you didn't do that.   You demand a person who's feeling lost which isn't fair to Nate.

Answer

Yikes. 
Your teacher is right. This is your responsibility and you had a month to adjust plans. There’s nothing to report her for. 
You constantly texting your friend is at the very least inconsiderate, rude, insensitive. Yes it’s wrong to keep demanding he help you.

Answer

You are the asshole. When someone tells you that their father committed suicide and cannot help with your project, you're only answer should be... I'm so sorry and I understand... and then move on to find a different partner or topic or whatever. How dare you make your project for school more important than his feelings in this situation. Not cool at all! ￼I actually agree with your teacher on this, if your partner wasn't responding to you, that was a red flag that they are not going to be participating. I would've moved on after a week of not hearing from them to be honest. ￼￼

Answer

You’re at fault. You’ve had months to get this assignment completed, and to make other arrangements. You chose not to.

Answer

You can’t demand him to do anything. This seems like you need to handle on your own now. Take your teacher of up on their offer to help you

Answer

Yes. You are definitely an asshole. As an adult, you need to learn that Plan A doesn't always work and you should always have a Plan B, C, and D ready in case of mishaps. As soon as Nate stopped responding, you could've went to plan B. You didn't for whatever reason. What was your reason as to why you couldn't find someone else? Nate clearly gave you a reason as to why he stopped communicating with you, although it was unnecessary but understandable. I honestly wouldn't have left you on read, but cursed you the fuck out and blocked you had you tried me like that. As you said, " Everybody goes through shit", so get your podcast done without Nate. Going to higher authority for your professor's response isn't going to do anything. You had a deadline and you didn't meet it. Crying to someone higher isn't going to help you in the real world. Take accountability and make that podcast happen. You still have at least 3 days to pick someone off of the street or on campus and do your podcast. Get it done.

Answer

Yes you are . To tell him everyone  has shit going on and to harass him after his dad killed himself! Your professor was right , you should have found someone else as it was clear Nate wasn’t going too. This is on you as it was your responsibility to make sure your assignments were getting done . You probably even lost Nate as a friend for how insensitive  you have been.

AITA in this situation?

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