West Point rugby team indefinitely disbanded as details emerge of 'crude sexual' emails and 'culture of disrespect towards women' 60 players punished after investigation into email chain showed lewd, inappropriate references to homosexuality, incest, and rape U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke at the elite military academy's May 25 convocation, where he called sexual harassment a 'debilitating, insidious, and destructive force in the American military' The rugby team of West Point military academy has been disbanded and players disciplined over an email chain involving crude sexual references and suggesting a "hostile team environment or a culture of disrespect towards women." Players on the rugby team of the elite New York institution - a veritable assembly line into the highest echelons of the American military - shared emails that have now been deemed to be in violation of the Cadet Disciplinary Code. Shared between the entire rugby team be several players, the emails reportedly contained rankings of a sexual nature of female cadets and other women, as well as references to rape, incest, and homosexuality. Marching orders: Elite military academy West Point's rugby team has been disbanded after an investigation found players had been exchanging lewd emails as part of a culture hostile to women This, as reported by the Sunday Times June 2. The Times was also told by a former cadet who was privy to the emails "there were jokes about putting people in cages...while being leashed" and that sexual references were made about a female cadet "eating a burrito." "The females were referred to as manly, disgusting, sluts and fat," said the source. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke at West Point last weekend during a ceremony in which 14 rugby team members were allowed to graduate. Inside jokes: The emails reportedly contained crude references to rape, incest, and homosexuality and referred to some women as 'manly' In his address, the secretary referred to sexual harassment as "debilitating, insidious, and destructive forces" in the American military that "must be stamped out." A statement from school officials said the implicated cadets were made to complete a supervised "intense respect rehabilitation program" involving self-assessments. Chief West Point spokesman Lt. Col. Webster Wright told the Army Times it is undetermined for how long the team will remain disbanded and that the investigation is "ongoing." Despite doing some really silly, sophomoric things, they stood up and they accepted full responsibility for this as the leadership of the team. This was unprofessional conduct and not what we would expect from future leaders of the army," Webster said. Demotion: The disbanding is indefinite and the more senior players faced punishment as severe as loss of rank In all, about 60 cadets were punished following the rugby team investigation. In addition to the rehabilitation program, Webster said punishment of the senior players included 120 hours of marching in uniform carrying rifles, demotion, and loss of leave. Though the controversy was not reported until far more recently, the West Point Rugby team's official Facebook page has read "Due to unforeseen circumstances, the West Point Rugby team will not be participating in the 2013 CRC 7s tournament in Philadelphia" since May 20. Common? Sixty team members were punished in all, though 14 of the players were allowed to graduate in a ceremony in which U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called sexual harassment a military scourge