 James Loughlin Duncan attended Emory University and received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1935 and a Master of Arts (MA) in 1936.He studied theology at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee and received a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) in 1939, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity (hon DD) in 1962.He was an initiate of the Kappa Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order, later transferring to the Epsilon Chapter, and finally to the Alpha Alpha Chapter.