PHILADELPHIA--The faculty senate of the University of Pennsylvania voted in special session on Tuesday to urge the trustees to consider Provost Vartan Gregorian for the presidency.

The meeting was called at the request of 120 faculty members who expressed concern at the nomination of F. Sheldon Hackney, now president of Tulane University, and the resignation of Gregorian, who many had expected would become president.

No Problem

"There was overwhelming support tor Gregorian at the meeting," Faculty Senate Chairman Paul Bender said yesterday.

"The only division occurred over whether we should introduce a motion thanking him for his eight years of service, or whether we should urge that the executive committee of the board of trustees agree to consider Gregorian," he added.

The full board of trustees will vote Friday on a new president.

Undergraduate Assembly Chairman Allison Accurson yesterday praised the meeting's action, saying, "It's a very daring resolution for them to make--it's good to see them taking such a strong stance."

The 12-member executive committee is now debating whether to include Gregorian's name in Friday's vote. Any final decision by the board of trustees, including the selection of a president, must be approved by two-thirds of its members.

The undergraduate assembly will hold a referendum on Monday and Tuesday nights to decide whether to sue the executive committee for violating the state's "sunshine" law in its nine-month search for a new president.

The law requires that meetings of officials of state-aided institutions, such as the university, be open to the public when "formal actions" are taken, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported.

Some students opposed to the suit said the executive committee's vote did not constitute formal action because the appointment must be formally ratified by the full board of trustees.