The "based on the recommendation of the department," part just seems so odd to me, as well as this process. It seems like they have a lot of people on the back burner and are sending rejections in waves or are waiting to see how the interviews go and then sending rejections if they decide to admit an interviewee. I'm glad to hear that the department there was helpful and I hope that they answer you on what their reasoning was.
I haven't heard anything one way or the other so, I guess it's still just a waiting game for me. Good luck to you as well and thank you for the update!