Twelve Virginia Military Institute cadets involved in dressing as Nazis, drag queens and a starving African at an October Halloween observance in barracks will have to write essays, remain confined to barracks and march hours of penalty tours, the institute said Thursday.

Photographs of the costumed cadets were posted on the Internet and sparked numerous message board debates in January about intolerance, good taste and political correctness.

In accordance with the recommendation of a student disciplinary committee, five upperclassmen received a range of discipline from having to write 1,000-word papers about the detrimental impact their actions had on VMI, confinement to barracks for two weeks when not attending to academic or other official duties, and marching 25 penalty tours of 50 minutes each while carrying a rifle. The upperclassmen include a cadet who took the pictures and posted them on the Internet.

Not all of them received the same punishment, but the maximum under the range would place the penalty at less severe than what a cadet would receive for sneaking off campus at night or being drunk in barracks, and more severe than the punishment for making obscene remarks.

Seven freshmen "rats" received a lecture from cadet leaders. They also attended mandatory civility training with all other freshmen conducted by the cadet leadership.

The rats received lesser punishment because of the pressure the VMI culture can put upon them to assimilate, plus they have the enticement of being able to leave the rigors of the ratline training system for a few hours if they don a costume, VMI spokesman Stewart MacInnis said.

"Nobody was forced to do anything," he said. "This may have seemed like a harmless inside joke, but obviously this whole thing has shown that what they think of as harmless isn't necessarily considered that way by other people ... That's a big lesson."

"We wanted this to be an educational and a leadership opportunity," said Mike Strickler, executive assistant to the VMI superintendent. "I'm not sure we necessarily wanted to hammer these guys, but instead make sure that they understand what they did was wrong and give penalties accordingly."

VMI officials learned about the costumes worn at the officially sanctioned event when an Internet user alerted them to photos of the party posted on an online message board. In the wake of a controversy over England's Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform to a costume party, the VMI pictures became a national news story.

MacInnis said the adult officer in charge of barracks the night of the party saw the Nazi uniforms and ordered them removed right away, but he did not witness the other costumes. He didn't know pictures had been taken.

A cadet originally posted the pictures on a photo-sharing Web site. In late January, someone else posted them on a message board operated by the Richmond Independent Media Center.

One picture shows three men dressed as Nazis giving the Nazi salute. Two are wearing swastika armbands. One has a small Hitler-style mustache.

Rabbi Kathy Cohen of Temple Emanuel in Roanoke said she didn't know enough about the cadets involved to comment on their punishments.

"I was very happy that the institute responded and looked into it very seriously," Cohen said.

"I'm glad it wasn't just looked over as a youthful prank."

Another photo shows two men in tiaras, wings and eye shadow. Both are wearing underpants and tank tops that read, "I [heart] a man in uniform." There is also a picture of a man in a loincloth wearing dark makeup, and one of a man with a bull's-eye drawn on the rear of his pants.

The incident was investigated by the cadet Officer of the Guard Association, and the penalties were recommended by the cadet General Committee. Administrators wanted cadets to handle the matter themselves as an object lesson. They enforced the penalties exactly as the GC recommended.

"These penalties are appropriate for the behavior displayed by the cadets involved," VMI Superintendent J.H. Binford "Binnie" Peay III said in a news release. "I share the concern of the majority of cadets that this incident has put VMI in a poor light. At the same time, I'm proud of the professional way the Corps of Cadets has addressed this situation and found a positive way to bring this matter to a close."

No decision has been made on whether the Halloween party will be changed, or if it will be held at all.

"We're looking at it," MacInnis said.

Staff writer Hattie Brown contributed to this report.