Inducted into the Weightlifting Hall of Fame: November 15, 2024
Warren Perrin was a three-year letterman (1966-68) and a leader of USL’s nationally-known weightlifting program. A native of the hamlet of Henry, he helped lead the Cajuns to four national weightlifting team championships as well as four undefeated seasons in competition.
Team captain of the squad in 1966 and 1967, Perrin placed third in the individual portion of the National Collegiate Championships in 1966 and improved to a second-place finish individually in 1967. He also won numerous state and regional titles and placed among the top three in every major competition he entered during his collegiate career, including national competition.
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Perrin was also known as one of the top student-athletes of his time, having made the Dean’s List 10 times during his career and graduating in the top ten percent of his class in 1969. He also served as vice-president of the Blue Key National Honor Fraternity, served on the Student Government Association and as a student representative of the Faculty Athletic committee, was twice an office holder with Gamma Beta Phi honor and service fraternity, was president of Kappa Alpha Order and was a member of Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities.
Perrin later graduated with honors from the LSU Law School in 1972 and won the American Jurisprudence Award for Achievement while at LSU. He currently serves as a senior partner in the law firm of Perrin Landry deLaunay in Lafayette. Perrin served UL as President of the Alumni Association in 1994-95 and continues to serve on boards including the UL Alumni Association. Perrin, is a skills professor at Loyola Law School.
In 1990, he founded the Acadian Museum of Erath. Being appointed by six governors to the CODOFIL Board, he served as President for 16 years. He filed a petition for an apology from Queen Elizabeth for the Acadian Deportation resulting in the 2003 Royal Proclamation. Perrin was awarded the French National Order of Merit and an honorary doctor of laws degree. He is the author of 12 books on French history and represented the US at Francophone Summits in Romania, Moncton, Quebec, Vietnam and Switzerland. He was inducted into the Louisiana Justice and the Lafayette Parish Bar Halls of Fame, is a visiting lecturer at Yale University, received the UL’s Outstanding Alumni Award, LEH awarded him the Lifetime Contribution to the Humanities and appointed to the Diocese of Lafayette’s Historical Commission which prepared reports for the Vatican for the canonizations of the “Little Cajun Saint” Charlene Richard and Auguste “Nonco” Pelafigue.