De Montfort University spent nearly £22,000 on a dance event that raised about £5,000 for charity, it has been revealed.
The university has published the costs of staging its DMU Heroes flash mob following a Freedom of Information request from the Leicester Mercury.
The event, in November, saw more than 1,000 students, staff and members of the public dancing their way across the university's city centre campus and nearby Castle Gardens to the tune of Bonny Tyler's 1980s rock anthem Holding Out for a Hero.
The event cost the university £21,983. The largest single expense was £15,582 on hiring a PA system, with a further £1,400 on hiring a film company to record the event.
Other costs were £2,148 for promotional banners, £846 for catering, £811 for security, £956 on electrics and £240 on rights to play the song in public.
The event was conceived by vice chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard, who led the dancing and had a starring role in a nine-minute video that has been watched nearly 5,000 times on YouTube.
He was participating in the 2012 Grant Thornton Executive Quest, which challenges bosses to come up with original fund-raising ideas.
The money raised has gone to the Loros hospice and cancer charity Prostaid.
As well as raising money for good causes, the university also said the video and publicity given to the event by the Mercury and local broadcasters had helped it recruit new students.
A university spokesman said: "It was felt that an exciting and innovative event such as the flash mob would not only raise money for the two charities, but would also help raise awareness of De Montfort University among those considering university applications."
The spokesman added: "De Montfort University holds many events aimed at enhancing our reputation, while also supporting one of our strategic aims such as establishing our academic credibility, helping the local community or making the university distinctive.
"Most of these events do not raise money, but they play an important part in sustaining student recruitment at the university during a turbulent time for higher education which has seen many universities struggle to meet the targets set by Government. De Montfort University exceeded its targets by about 25 students this year."
The university said it was impossible to say how many had signed up directly because of the flash mob.
