UPenn Selects President Amid Controversy

PHILADELPHIA--The board of trustees of the University of Pennsylvania yesterday selected F. Sheldon Hackney, now president of Tulane University, as UPenn's new president, despite protests from students and faculty who had favored the university's provost instead.

Two to four hundred students and faculty observed the trustees' meeting, which was held in a gymnasium, Paul Bender, chairman of the faculty senate, said yesterday.

The faculty senate, in a special session last week, voted to urge the trustees to nominate Provost Vartan Gregorian for president. However, Gregorian, who resigned two weeks ago, asked that his name not be considered and the trustees yesterday voted only on the nomination of Hackney, Bender said.

Students Tuesday voted down a referendum calling for an investigation of possible violations of Pennsylvania's "sunshine laws" on the part of the trustees. Those laws require that meetings of officials of state-aided institutions, such as UPenn, be open to the public when "formal action" is taken.

If the referendum had passed, the investigation might have led to a lawsuit by the undergraduate assembly against the trustees for holding closed meetings during the search for a new president. The vote was about 500 in favor of the investigation and 900 against, a reporter for The Daily Pennsylvanian said.

Students did not pass the referendum because Gregorian's request not to be considered "made the issue unimportant," Bender said.

A student said yesterday, "There is still a lot of healing to be done and a lot of rifts to cement."

Hackney will take office in February.