The university has now appointed Ehrlich to a one-year position in which he will work on organizing a music festival at Virginia Tech. The position also means that he can play the $1 million Bergonzi violin that the university bought for his use during his tenure in the Audubon Quartet.
"The faculty is uniformly furious about this," said hornist and music professor Wallace Easter. "There's a lot of negative feeling toward him the music department."
Easter added that the appointment made it appear that the university was endorsing Ehrlich's position in his fight with the remaining members of the Audubon. Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker called that assertion "bullpuckey."